Black Star
by Fantasmagorie
Summary: The Goblin King is puzzled by a mysterious child named Arianhad who was wished into his care. He decides to keep her as his daughter but he never planned far enough ahead to deal with that whole adolescence thing! COMPLETE!
1. Prologue : The babe with the power

Black Star  
  
* * *  
  
By Hello it's me fantastic  
  
Hi there! After that mammoth 'four part' trilogy I've recently finished (please read it  
if you haven't already, I am quite proud of it) I thought it was high time I did  
something a bit different. So I'm putting my space ship back in the garage for a while  
and I'm going to write something a little more serious. Well, as serious as a nutter like  
me can manage!  
  
Anyway, sit back, relax and enjoy this twisted tale of intrigue and suspense! And tell  
me what you think...  
  
Disclaimer - I do not own Labyrinth or any of its original characters.  
  
******  
  
Prologue : The babe with the power!  
  
Jareth, the Goblin King returned to the castle as the winter winds swirled around the  
many hallways and passages. To say that it had been a strange night was a bit of an  
understatement. He felt very unsettled by the previous event, and it took a lot to freak  
out a Goblin King, he could vouch for that.   
  
He looked down at the tiny child in his arms. She looked barely two years old and her  
light brown hair adorned her head like a halo. She was just an ordinary child (albeit an  
extremely cute one) but there was something about her, some kind of aura that made  
her stand out among all the other children he had taken. This child obviously held a lot  
of power.  
  
However, the child was not what had made the evening strange, but the means in  
which  
she had arrived. Firstly, she had been wished to him personally as opposed to his  
Goblins, and secondly, their had been no parent or sibling around when he had found  
her. The baby had been abandoned on a narrow road with a hastily scribbled note and  
a jet pendant shaped like a star. The note also bore this symbol along with a single  
name "Arianhad". 


	2. The Education of Arianhad

Chapter Two - The Education of Arianhad  
  
******  
  
Demon Faerie Queen - "It sounds as though Black Star became your interest before  
this (What am I supposed to do with a Goblin Babe) got finished"  
A/N - You assume correctly. I got a bit impatient with the other story and I wrapped it  
up a little quickly. I'll probably re-write that last chapter eventually and make some  
improvements, but right now I'm bloody sick of it.  
  
******  
  
In retrospect, Jareth was never really sure if that was the exact moment that he had  
decided to keep her or if it had been when Arian had woken up a few hours later. Her  
eyes were so dark that it was hard to tell where the iris ended and the pupil began,  
which was unusual compared to her fair hair and skin. She had not looked at all  
worried that she was in a room full of Goblins on a dark and stormy night. Instead, she  
just gave them an inquisitive look as if she was trying to work out what made them  
tick. Either way, she showed intelligence far beyond her years and for that reason, the  
Goblin King decided to bring her up as his own daughter. Contrary to what most  
people thought, he did have a bit of a soft spot for kids.  
  
Over time, Arian certainly proved her talent. After six months she had learned to talk  
and her vocabulary was larger than most adults in the Underground court. Although,  
Jareth was horrified to find that the Goblins were teaching her swear words behind his  
back. By the time she was three, she had successfully learned to read and write and  
finally at age five she was fluent in several Underground languages like Elvin and  
Dwarfish as well as the more ancient tongues of the Aboveworld such as Greek, Latin,  
Sanskrit and Hebrew. She had a passion for the written word and nothing gave her  
more joy than the dusty tomes of the castle library or a quill and ink.  
  
However, despite all her literary gifts, it seemed that Arian did not have a single ounce  
of magic inside her. Jareth had done his best to draw it out of her. Figuring the best  
way to encourage magic was to make it an option of self defence, he arranged for the  
Goblins to pretend to attack her in the middle of the night and had even resorted to  
pushing her off a cliff so she might give some sign as to whatever the energy was that  
hung around her. Sadly, all the young Arian had learned from these experiences was  
to keep a loaded crossbow under her pillow and avoid her father when they took walks  
at high altitudes. She showed no natural ability.  
  
Childhood traumas aside, she led a reasonably happy life and didn't mind her state of  
isolation. She adored the Labyrinth and over the years she came to know it like the  
back of her hand. In fact it was her party trick whenever there were guests at the  
castle. Where other princesses would have sang played instruments, Arian would read  
stories and essays she had written or sketch maps of the Labyrinth from memory.  
  
It was on one of these evenings, when Arianhad was fourteen years of age, that this  
story began. There were a number of foreign ambassadors from the surrounding  
kingdoms attending. As usual, Arian found it so boring that watching paint dry  
sounded like a bit of a laugh. She desperately wished that she could go to her room  
and read or go outside and make the most of the fading light. But no! She had to stay  
and listen to a bunch of old politicians and smile politely and only speak when spoken  
to ect. ect... It wasn't fair!  
  
Then it was time for her reading. Here we go again! She stood up at the front of the  
drawing room her plain black dress posed a high contrast her pale skin and her dark  
eyes shone like coals in the candlelight and glinted in unison with her star pendant she  
had worn since infancy. This night she had chosen The Iliad by Homer, in its original  
Greek. Ha! That would show them. Seeing as no one in the room had a very strong  
understanding of the language apart from her, she felt an arrogant spasm of pleasure as  
the words flooded out faster and faster and her shocked audience tried hard to hide  
their difficulty in keeping up. When her reading was finally over she bowed (but no  
more than she had to) and left the room.  
  
"Well, that was certainly quite...interesting." said one of the guests.  
  
"Don't be a fool. You didn't even understand it!" said his wife.  
  
"I got the gist of it. Boy meets girl, they run away together, girl's husband sends a huge  
fleet after them and holds the city under siege for years and years. Quite a sweet little  
domestic drama."  
  
"I see why she's nicknamed the Black Star. She's too bright by half and equally  
distant..." said the wife under her breath, or so she thought.  
  
"Is there a problem, Lady Bernadette?" said a smooth yet stern voice from across the  
room. She turned to see the King was looking straight at her.  
  
"I was merely discussing your daughter's reading with my husband." she gushed with a  
false smile "Such a strange area to educate her in, isn't it?"  
  
"In what sense?" asked Jareth, his tone swiftly becoming icy.  
  
"It's just that girls should be taught the arts and proper etiquette, not idle stories of the  
Aboveworld. How will she become a wife if she has no idea how to behave like one?"  
  
"That is only when marriage is the only option." said the Goblin King "I have far more  
important plans in mind."  
  
He still had not given up on Arian's potential. The magical energy around her radiated  
like heat from a lightbulb but still had failed to present itself. This was irrelevant,  
however. In the end it made no difference whether the child had a natural ability or  
not. It all depended on how well she could be taught and once she reached the right  
age, with the right amount of tuition, he would be able to harness her power. 


	3. The Eastern Tower

Chapter Three - The Eastern Tower  
  
******  
  
Arian crept silently up to her rooms. Her quarters took up most of the Eastern Tower  
which was the second highest in the whole castle. It was beaten only by the Central  
Campanile that contained the Labyrinth's main magic source at the top floor, guarded  
by the ever changing tangle of stairways that made up the Escher room. It seemed to  
go on to infinity and, on the occasion when she had visited it at the age of eight, she  
had tried to comfort herself into believing that it was all an optical illusion (although a  
horrible feeling in the pit of her stomach told her that this was not the case). Arian had  
only seen that room once before under the company of her father, and once was  
definitely more than enough. Had she been alone, she had mused later on, she might  
have been lost in there for days and not even her keen sense of direction would have  
been able to help her. The magic at it's core had a nasty habit of distorting the laws of  
physics.  
  
The Eastern Tower however was fairly static in its whereabouts, almost comfortingly  
so. It was definitely the easiest part of the castle to find. Arian's quarters consisted of  
three circular rooms and a loft at the top of the tower. These were all separated by a  
small spiral staircase through the centre that stretched continuously upwards until it  
reached the trap door to the loft. The lowest room was her living area and dining room  
where she was supposed to greet visitors (if any of them had reason to see her, which  
they never did). Above that was her old school room which she had now converted  
into a private study. Higher still was her bedroom and bathroom and above that was  
the loft under the conical roof of the tower. Years ago she had delighted in its  
contents, exploring every ancient curiosity and forging hiding places among the  
forgotten furniture. Now, she had grown bored of its contents and was planning to  
clear it out to make some more space for her precious books. Already the three lower  
rooms were filled to the brim with these treasures. The most recent edition to Arian's  
rooms was the tower's roof itself. The year before a particularly violent storm had  
destroyed part of it and there was now a large whole near the roof's base. Arian had  
discovered that there was a lot of space between the jagged point of the tower and the  
battlements that surrounded it. Enough space to sit and read or to gaze upon the  
fantastic view of the Labyrinth that stretched below her in all directions. To this end  
she had purchased several telescopes and spy glasses so she could observe everything  
in finer detail. On such a clear night, the roof was perfect for stargazing and that was  
exactly what she felt like doing.  
  
******  
  
The next morning, Jareth appeared in the tower and momentarily surprised to find it  
empty. The Goblins had laid out Arian's breakfast but she was nowhere to be found.  
Just an empty, Spartan room with tall piles of ageing books on every available surface.  
She had really let the place go, he thought. Seeing as he hadn't been in his daughter's  
room for nearly two years, he wasn't prepared for the magnitude of clutter it  
contained. In fact, since all the problems with the peace negotiations between the Troll  
and Dwarven kingdoms had started, he barely had any time for her at all and had left  
her to her own devices. Not that she seemed to mind of course. Arian always looked  
as though she desperately wanted to be somewhere else when there were other people  
in the room. Perhaps she had not yet risen. With that thought he sauntered up the  
spiral staircase, past her study and her collection of typewriters, printing presses and  
other literary contraptions. Honestly, what manner of child kept a printing press in her  
room?   
  
Her bed was empty! He was about to look for her elsewhere when he noticed the  
trapdoor in the ceiling hanging open and a light morning breeze spiralling down from  
it...  
  
She had somehow fallen asleep on the roof that night. She sat against the slope of the  
roof with one leg dangling over the battlements and the other tucked neatly under it.  
She was wearing the same dress she had worn at dinner the previous evening and her  
light brown hair hung in a long, tangled braid over her left shoulder. Around her on  
various stands and tripods were her telescopes. Jareth had never really understood her  
strange fascination with technology.  
  
"Arian." No answer "Arian!" he said, louder this time. Arian's eyes fluttered open and  
she straightened her back with satisfying click. Hard tiles were not the best surface to  
sleep on. She jumped slightly when she noticed the Goblin King towering over her.  
  
"Father?" she said "What are you doing here?"  
  
"Can't a man visit his daughter?" he replied coolly.  
  
"Well, it's just that I haven't seen you in a while."  
  
"You saw me last night."  
  
"I meant talked to you!" she replied with a hint of annoyance. He was making her  
nervous, after all they were very high up.  
  
"I've been thinking." said Jareth, swiftly moving away from the subject of his recent  
estrangement. "You're going to be an adult soon and it's about time we decided what  
you're going to do with your life."  
  
"I assume by 'we' you meant 'you'." said Arian bitterly.  
  
"You assume correctly. I have decided to teach you the ways of magic, so you may be  
of more use to the kingdom."  
  
"Oh not the magic again! I think it's pretty obvious there isn't a magical bone in my  
body!"  
  
"Well, would you rather be married off to some nobleman?" he said, his tone suddenly  
sounding quite threatening as opposed to the light conversational manner he had been  
using earlier. Arian didn't make any response to the remark and looked to the floor. "I  
didn't think so." he said triumphantly and began to walk nonchalantly along the  
battlements showing no concern that he was balancing on a tiny wall nearly a  
thousand feet above the ground. "Your lessons will begin immediately. Have your  
breakfast then report to my study." and with that he jumped gracefully over the edge,  
changing into his owl form in mid-plummet.  
  
Arian watched as he flew away. "Bloody show off!" she grumbled.  
  
"I heard that." said a disembodied voice by her ear. Arian sighed and shook her head  
before making her way back to her rooms. 


	4. The Training Ground

Chapter Four - The Training Ground  
  
******  
  
A/N - Yes! There's a new alien story out! It's called "What am I supposed to do with a  
load of old jokes?!" and it's a collection of small adventures that didn't quite make  
it into the stories. Don't miss it!  
I'll still be working on this one though...^_~  
  
******  
  
After Arian had finished her boiled eggs and changed into a different dress (it was still  
black but the skirt and sleeves were more sensible), she made her way to the Goblin  
King's study. Magic? Her? That'll be the day!  
  
She was about to raise her hand to knock when the door opened on its own with an  
ominous creak. Typical! To her surprise and annoyance, the room was empty. What  
was the bloody point of trekking halfway across the castle for someone if they weren't  
going to keep their appointment? She glanced around the sombre room. Everything  
seemed normal. there was a large desk in the middle of the room surrounded by  
several shelves and cabinets containing her father's accounts, archives and law books.  
  
Amongst these was a beautifully bound tome chronicling the history of the Labyrinth.  
Being the natural bibliophile that she was, Arian couldn't help taking it down from the  
shelf to admire it. As soon as she ran a finger along its highly decorative pages, her  
stomach gave a great lurch and her whole body became disorientated. It felt  
disturbingly like that time she had been pushed off that cliff. The feeling quickly  
passed and she felt herself land with a jolt onto solid ground. Oh God! What if she had  
been caught up in some miscast spell? What if she had been transported somewhere  
else? What if no one would be able to find her? She was too scared to even open her  
eyes.  
  
"Ah! You found you're way here!" said a familiar voice cheerfully "I wasn't sure if you  
would sense the entrance I made for you. I'm impressed." She opened her eyes and  
noticed that Jareth was standing a few feet away from her. They seemed to be in the  
middle of a grassy field that stretched far away until it reached a group of picturesque  
rolling hills. The sky was a dazzling shade of blue accented by thin, wispy clouds here  
and there.  
  
"Entrance?" said Arian, completely baffled by the whole thing. "What entrance?"  
  
"I enchanted that book to serve as a transporter to your own personal training ground."  
said Jareth looking extremely pleased with himself.  
  
"Training ground? Is that where we are now?" she asked, scary as this place was, she  
still felt a deep sense of curiosity.  
  
"Yes. I designed this place to be outside of space and time so you would be able to  
practice your craft without risk and under my supervision."  
  
"Why here?"  
  
"The Labyrinth is too crowded with magical energy. It might disrupt your power in its  
early stages of development and could lead to all kinds of accidents. The training  
ground is purposefully neutral so you will be able to build up your strength. We will  
use it for all of your practical lessons until you are ready to use magic in the real  
world, which hopefully won't be too long considering how easily you found this  
place."  
  
"What? Oh! No, no that was just a coincidence!" said Arian quickly "I didn't sense  
anything."  
  
"You underestimate yourself, my dear. You have a lot of potential. You could go on to  
achieve great things." said Jareth darkly "But first things first. You will come here at  
nine every morning from now on unless I tell you otherwise and you will not leave  
until I allow you to."  
  
"Oh yippee!" said Arian sarcastically. "This is really going to be a barrel of laughs!"  
  
"AND I will receive your undivided attentions and co-operation." said Jareth, angered  
by his daughters defiance "Do I make myself perfectly clear?" Arian nodded sulkily.  
"Excellent! Shall we begin?" 


	5. It's all in writing

Chapter Five - It's all in writing!  
  
******  
  
A/N - Hi! I know this is a little unusual but bear with me. Not my usual style, that's  
for sure. Sarah will come into this eventually as will Hoggle and possibly some other  
Labyrinth creatures. Thank you and please leave a review. ^_^  
  
******  
  
The bright, airy landscape melted away before Arian's eyes and they were once again  
in the study.  
  
"What happened? I thought we were going to start!" she said, now feeling utterly  
confused.  
  
"We are." said Jareth, sitting down at his desk "But there's a lot of background  
information you need to learn first."  
  
"You mean theory work?" her father nodded. Arian breathed a sigh of relief. Theory  
was OK. She could handle that side of things...  
  
That moment, her eye fell on an old bookcase that she could have sworn wasn't there  
before. This did not concern her, things appeared and disappeared in the Labyrinth all  
the time, it was just the way things were. What worried her were the books that rested  
on it. By nature, Arian loved anything to do with the written word but these were not  
her definition of books. They leaked dark energies beyond her understanding and the  
stuffy air around them sizzled with tiny sparks of magic and left an unsavoury metallic  
taste in her mouth. The taste of blood, although she could find none! These were not  
books, they were a crime against nature!  
  
Jareth noticed his daughter's distress and quickly reassured her : "Don't worry. They're  
quite harmless."  
  
"Then, why are they chained to the bookcase?" cried Arian, for they were. Jareth  
ignored her question and proceeded to unlock one of them from its tiny shackles. The  
book was a very dark brown with iron hinges and an iron lock on the front. Was its  
contents that important that it had to be locked up to stop people from getting in? She  
thought. Or was the lock there to stop something from getting out? Frankly she didn't  
want to know. She just wanted to get out of there and away from that room!  
  
With the same key, her father unlocked the book and placed it on the desk in front of  
where she was sitting. They both failed to notice that the star of her pendant briefly  
changed from black to clear, then clear to black again, for it happened so quickly that  
one blink would have missed it completely. Arian gulped nervously and reached with  
a shaking hand to open the book. What she saw made her gasp with both fear and  
fascination. There, on the page, lay an ancient scripture Arian had never seen before.  
Each letter seemed to rearrange itself every time she tried to concentrate on it and the  
ink swirled around fluidly like eels leaving a fluorescent blue trail.   
  
Arian watched mesmerised by the mysterious writing. She imagined it was like  
watching some kind of poisonous snake, deadly yet morbidly beautiful. Every now  
and again her eyes glowed with recognition when for a split second the text became  
briefly legible, but then they would darken again as a letter would skitter off into a  
completely different language and on a new part of the page. She was gripped with  
frustration at this and grabbed a sword shaped letter opener from the desk and swiftly  
plunged it into the heart of a particularly troublesome word. The book gave a shrill  
little yelp and slammed shut never taking Arian's hand with it.  
  
Jareth had been watching her all the while. For a moment she looked engrossed in the  
text she was faced with. For a few beautiful seconds he thought he had found her  
strength and that from then on she would take to magic like a duck to water as she had  
done with everything else he had tried teaching her when she was very young. Sadly  
this was not so when she tried to gain control through stabbing the words. Jareth  
smiled. That was exactly what he had done at that age. Whether she liked it or not his  
daughter did indeed take after him in some respects.  
  
"That thing's insane!" cried Arian.  
  
"Well, you weren't being very nice to it." said Jareth smugly.  
  
Arian rolled her eyes "So how do I get it to behave?"  
  
"Does this mean you're finally taking an interest?" he teased.  
  
"If you're going to be all self satisfied like that then I don't care." said Arian haughtily  
"I've got far better things to do than restrain maniacal books with you."  
  
"Ah yes! You're little hobbies." her eyes smouldered with anger at the words "I'm  
afraid you'll have very little time for such things now that your responsibilities lie  
elsewhere."  
  
"What responsibilities? I should think it was quite clear by now that magic and me  
just don't mix! What use could I possibly be to you in that respect?"  
  
"You are my only heir, Arian." he replied angrily "And after all I have done for you I  
would think it only courteous for you to start doing something in return!"  
  
"Your heir! Oh for Christ's sake! You're not even my real father! Why don't you just  
go! Get a girlfriend! Get a proper heir! And leave me be!" she was shouting now  
which was very out of character and she got up and stormed out of the room,  
slamming the door behind her.  
  
Jareth was about to follow suit but decided against it. It served him right for trying to  
interfere with things that were so important to her. Besides, she was a clever girl, she  
would come round. He hoped! Something else was troubling him aside from her  
stinging remarks. As her anger grew, whatever energies she contained increased and  
he could have sworn that her star pendant had gone clear for a few seconds. The book  
on the table opened itself and Jareth glanced down to see the strange swirling ink  
creatures lined up smartly in standard English. He sucked in some air between his  
teeth. No one, positively no one had managed to make them do that before! 


	6. The Northern Gate

Chapter Six - The Northern Gate  
  
******  
  
Hoggle the Dwarf began his morning ritual around the Labyrinth's perimeter. The  
fairies were beginning to get out of hand that year. They bred faster than he could  
spray them. He was pretty much alone on the outer edge. That 'little incident' fifteen  
years ago had led to his eventual banishment from Goblin City and he was now forced  
to scrape a living together on the outer edge taking care of the plants and occasionally  
trading the odd trinket. He hardly saw anyone nowadays. Nobody came to solve the  
Labyrinth anymore as the old legend disappeared into the mists of time and from the  
memories of the mortal children. Sad really, no more entertainment. Imagine his  
surprise when the Northern Gate was suddenly flung open and a pale, thin young  
woman with mousy hair rushed out of it. She was crying bitterly and her long black  
dress was dirty around the bottom.   
  
"That must have been the Lady Arian." he thought to himself. Oh yes, he's heard of  
the mysterious Black Star from the foreign traders across the border. Stories of her  
intellect were widespread in the Underground but so were tales of her indifference.  
"Too bright by half and twice as distant." they'd say "But that's nothing compared to  
her father."  
  
The girl didn't look anything like a Black Star to Hoggle. Just a strange and unhappy  
child. But then, who wouldn't be if they had Jareth for a father? She hadn't noticed  
him, so for a few moments he watched the fragile looking child slide down into a  
sitting position against the wall and bury her face in her hands. Her long, tangled braid  
trailed on the dusty ground.  
  
"Something on your mind?" he said loudly.  
  
Arian jumped with fright when she heard the voice and looked up suddenly. Her dark,  
red rimmed eyes met with the pale blue ones of a little dwarf with a face like a rotten  
apple.  
  
"Oh! Jesus! Don't do that!" she cried.  
  
"I don't know. Ya shows a little concern for someone and they goes off and shout at  
ya." said the dwarf indignantly.  
  
"I'm sorry. You just scared me, that's all."  
  
"That's quite all right. I tend to have that effect on women!" said Hoggle and waggled  
his eyebrows playfully.  
  
Arian laughed for the first time in ages. "You're a dwarf aren't you?"  
  
"Aww! What gave me away?" said Hoggle jokingly and proceeded to turn around  
trying to find some telltale sign of his racial origin (which was everything). "I've never  
seen you before." he said when he had finished "Am I right in guessing that you're the  
Lady Arianhad, his Majesty's daughter?"  
  
"Yes. I'm afraid so. I don't usually go outside the Labyrinth." replied Arian, drying her  
eyes on her sleeve. "I keep meaning to, but I've never got round to it."  
  
"Well, there's not much here." said Hoggle, conversationally "Just my house, the pond  
and the morning glories, and the fairies of course." To prove his point, the dwarf  
sprayed one out of the air and stamped on it.  
  
"You're horrible!" said Arian.  
  
"No I ain't. I'm Hoggle!" said Hoggle angrily "And for your information, I only sprays  
them with instant starch. It doesn't kill them, but they glide up the windows!" Arian  
giggled again. On those rare occasions when she did smile, she could be quite  
beautiful. "So what's the matter?" said the dwarf kindly.  
  
"Oh nothing. I had an argument with my father."  
  
"He ain't done nothing to harm ya, has he?"  
  
"No. He just wants me to learn magic even though I'm useless at it."  
  
"Well that's what learnin's for, ain't it?" said Hoggle "To get better at things."  
  
"But I don't want to get better at it!" cried Arian angrily "The whole thing makes me  
feel ill!"  
  
"You're a funny one ain't ya! I know hundreds of young girls who would give their  
right arm to learn magic."  
  
"All the girls that you're likely to know, wish their brothers and sisters away. Should I  
follow that example as well?"  
  
Hoggle paused. She had point there. "Well, I suggest you stay on his good side. I  
disobeyed him once and I got banished."  
  
"Banished! What for?" asked Arian, eyes wide with curiosity.  
  
"I can't say right now. It's not safe." said Hoggle nervously, looking from side to side.  
"All I can say now is that you should go and apologise and give the magic thing a try.  
You never know, you might grow to like it."  
  
"OK. Bye then. Nice talking to you, Hogwart." said Arian.  
  
"It's Hoggle!" growled the dwarf angrily as she made her way back to the castle. 


	7. Time is an Illusion!

Chapter Seven - Time is an illusion!  
  
******  
  
That afternoon, Arian decided to take the dwarf's advice and after a mumbled apology,  
she agreed to give her lessons another go. At least she would be able to stand her  
ground better if she did know magic. Apart from her theory lessons she also learned  
about the inner workings of the Labyrinth, its long and complicated history and  
general politics. All of which were deadly boring. However she did not stop her other  
activities and would secretly continue her writing at night by the light of a greasy  
candle. Her sleeping patterns became erratic and she rarely ate anything. This made  
her complexion (which was already pale) a deathly white, her cheeks sallow, and her  
eyes dark and tunnel like.  
  
******  
  
A month passed and Arian's progress was becoming evident and it seemed as though  
she was ready to proceed to the practical side of things. However, Jareth was worried  
about how she was neglecting her health. That evening he used a crystal to spy on her  
(not something he was altogether proud of) and found the scene that unfolded fairly  
disturbing. She had fallen asleep at her desk in her old schoolroom surrounded by  
towers of ancient volumes, her body was twisted and disturbed and a black sticky  
liquid flowed like blood from where she had knocked over the inkwell.  
  
******  
  
The next day a goblin servant woke Arian up and informed her that she was to take  
her lesson in the Central Campanile that morning.  
  
"Oh great!" she groaned sarcastically "Stairs! Lots and lots of stairs. No rest for the  
wicked."  
  
"I wouldn't know, my Lady." said the goblin.  
  
"It's a figure of speech. You know when you use a particular phrase to describe an  
object or a situation..." the goblin just looked at her stupidly "Oh! Never mind!"  
  
She made her way to the Escher room. It was probably the most erratic room in the  
castle so it helped to wonder around randomly until it decided to show itself.  
Eventually she noticed a familiar doorway and trudged through it. There it was again.  
Just as she's remembered it from the first time. Christ! It made her feel queasy. It was  
probably best to just concentrate on going in one direction and not pay attention to the  
confusing jumble all around her. She later came to the conclusion that this didn't work  
and she was thoroughly lost. Her worst nightmare had come true and that sick feeling  
in her stomach just wouldn't go away. She leaned against a wall and closed her eyes,  
one thing she was sure of was that the world did not spin as fast at it was doing now.  
  
"Good morning, Arian." she heard her father's voice say suddenly. Why did he insist  
on sneaking up on her? She looked around but was surprise to find there was no one  
there.  
  
"Look up." the voice commanded.  
  
Arian groaned, she didn't have to look to know what was going on "You're upside  
down aren't you?" she said nervously.  
  
"I'm not. You are!" and that very moment Arian felt her weight shift to her upper body  
and her footing suddenly felt dangerously unstable. Before she knew it she had fallen  
in a heap onto what she had thought was the ceiling and was faced with a pair of black  
riding boots.  
  
"Ow!" she whined and rubbed her arm where a bruise was quickly forming.  
  
"You need to stay focused." said Jareth "Don't let yourself get fooled into obeying the  
laws of physics."  
  
"Well, you weren't exactly helping by saying I was upside down."  
  
"You didn't have to believe me, child. Although your trust is very flattering, you  
should know by now that I'm not that reliable."  
  
"So, is there a reason for us being here or did you just want to confuse me?" said  
Arian exasperated with the whole thing.  
  
******  
  
They arrived on the jagged roof of the Campanile. The sprawling mass of the  
Labyrinth stretched out below them like a patterned green carpet. A sight that never  
ceased to fill Arian with wonder.  
  
"Beautiful, isn't it." said Jareth proudly "But can you tell me how it works?"  
  
Arian thought about this for a moment. She had watched the place work for over  
twelve years and had still only just come to understand its complexities.  
  
"Take your time, Arian. It's an important question."  
  
Time! That was a huge factor in the Labyrinth perhaps it was a clue. Suddenly a  
thought struck her and she smiled triumphantly. "It's a giant clock!" she exclaimed  
happily "The sun rises at the Northern gate, then progresses around the outer edge  
passing each of the thirteen main gates every hour. The labyrinth must run like  
clockwork and its all powered by the magical field at its centre like a giant battery or  
winding mechanism."  
  
"How did you know that?" asked Jareth looking genuinely surprised.  
  
"Educated guess. Can I go now?" she said impatiently.  
  
******  
  
The next few months were purely practical and Arian would go to the Training  
Ground every morning. Sometimes she wouldn't leave until late in the evening. Her  
father insisted on making her practise for hours until she got things right, which she  
never did. Months of magical training and all she could manage were a few blue  
sparks. She didn't mind that much any more, it was quite nice to have an intellectual  
equal around even if the lessons were exhausting. Two months had already passed and  
they were still working on a simple fire spell. Arian's task was to light a candle  
magically and put it out again.  
  
"Try it again." Jareth ordered irritably. Arian waved her hand in the specified way but  
nothing happened. "You're not even trying!" another wave, a few blue sparks  
decorated Arian's fingertips, but still no flame. "For God's sake girl, concentrate!" he  
shouted. Arian's eyes burned with anger and with one colossal effort, she flung her  
arm out and a small fire ball appeared from nowhere. Momentarily her star pendant  
turned a burning white.  
  
"Better." Jareth exclaimed, patting out the small fire on his shirt sleeve "But next time  
focus on what you're aiming for!"  
  
"I was." Arian growled angrily.  
  
"I don't understand. You were doing so well on the theory."   
  
"Well, sometimes people are good at some things but not at others."  
  
"Perhaps you need a bit of help to started." Jareth said encouragingly and held out a  
crystal for her. Reluctantly, Arian took it but as soon as the thing was in the palm of  
her hand her pendant flashed white again and the flawless depths of the crystal turned  
cloudier and cloudier until it was finally an opaque black sphere. A massive crack  
appeared down one side, followed by another and another. The fragments crumbled  
together until there was nothing left but a pile of black dust. Both teacher and pupil  
looked at the remains with confusion.  
  
"I'm sorry!" cried Arian. "I told you I was useless."  
  
"It doesn't matter, it's late." said Jareth "You may leave now." with a wave of his hand  
she had disappeared. He watched the remains of the crystal that lay scattered on the  
ground. That had never happened before. That pendant he had found her with had  
something to do with it but he wasn't sure what. Whatever it was, it was not good! 


	8. Midnight Conversations

Chapter Eight - Midnight Conversations  
  
******  
  
A/N - Oh come on! I need some feed back here! *sighs*  
  
******  
  
That night, Arian sat up in bed reading an old volume by Tolstoy. It was a sad story.  
Anna Kerenina's affair had just been discovered by her husband. She knew what was  
coming, having read and re-read the book before, but she still secretly hoped that the  
poor woman would get a happy ending. Her eyes hurt. There was not much light shed  
by her tiny candle that stood uncertainly atop a looming column of books on her  
bedside table. Perhaps she should get the place organised, or at least ask for some kind  
of shelving unit.  
  
Her thoughts were interrupted when a dark shadow moved across the room. With a  
sudden rush of panic, she grabbed the crossbow that she kept under her bed at all  
times. There was a rustling sound from the other end of the room.  
  
"Who's there?!" she tried to say assertively but it only came out as a frightened  
whisper.  
  
"Me." said a gruff voice from the shadow and a short figure stepped into the tiny pool  
of candle light. It was the dwarf she had met that day by the outer walls.  
  
"Heggle!" she cried with relief and put the crossbow back in its hiding place.  
  
"It's Hoggle!" the dwarf replied angrily.  
  
"What are you doing here?"  
  
"Just thought I'd pop in and see how you were getting on." said Hoggle, trying not to  
sound too perturbed.  
  
"Why are you so concerned about me?"  
  
"Well, I am that's all! Nice young girl, cold drafty castle. Stands to reason don't it?"  
  
"I thought you couldn't come here."  
  
"Well, you disobeys one order, you disobeys them all." said Hoggle with mock  
bravery which made Arian laugh.  
  
"Why were you banished, Hoggle?" she asked curiously.  
  
"It all started about fifteen years ago." said the dwarf. "I was like all the other  
creatures of the Labyrinth. I did what I was told and looked out for meself. Then, She  
came along!"  
  
"Who's She?"  
  
"I gettin' to it! I'm gettin' to it! Her name was Sarah and she had wished her baby  
brother away y'see. At first his Majesty thought she would be like all the others but it  
turned out she was made of stronger stuff. I was told to lead her back to the beginning  
of the Labyrinth, but then she started calling me her friend. No one had ever dome that  
before, never. And I just couldn't do it, I couldn't. It felt like there was something  
better out there to strive for, so in the end she managed to get to the castle."  
  
"What!" cried Arian "Somebody actually solved the Labyrinth! On their first try!"  
  
"Not just that. She beat his Majesty as well. She even turned him down when he  
offered her everything she could possible want."  
  
"But no one's ever defeated the Labyrinth!"  
  
"That's just what He's been telling ya. Would you really expect your old man to go  
public with something like that. The goblins forgot about it, they don't have very good  
memories and all the rest who knew were either locked up or sworn to secrecy. If it  
ever got out that a mortal beat the Labyrinth, it would lose all its credibility, we'd be  
invaded before we could blink!"  
  
"I can't believe no one told me!" said Arian. "What happened afterwards?"  
  
"Well, your dad took it all pretty hard. I think he must've fancied her or something.  
Didn't do nothing for nearly a year. Then you came along of course and he cheered up  
a bit. Found you in the middle of nowhere in Europe."  
  
"What! I didn't know that!"  
  
"Oh bugger, I've said too much!"  
  
"Hoggle, tell me what happened!"  
  
The dwarf looked around nervously as though he was being watched. Then bolted out  
of the room as fast as his little legs could carry him.  
  
"You coward!" shouted Arian, but he was already gone. 


	9. Reveries

Chapter Nine - Reveries  
  
******  
  
A/N - All right! Short chapter today. I haven't been able to decide on the source of  
Arian's power yet and I sorely need some suggestions! I deleted that other story  
because I had some ideas for it but I just couldn't make them funny enough. However  
a fifth part to the trilogy is in the greymatter! I was thinking about throwing some  
pirates in for good measure! Ta rah!  
  
******  
  
Hoggle dashed through the corridors as quickly as he could, desperate not to be seen.  
The last visit had been tricky, so much so that it had taken him a three months to plan.  
He wasn't sure why he did it. Mostly because he felt sorry for the girl being stuck at  
the centre of the Labyrinth surrounded by troublesome goblins. It was not a very good  
existence in his opinion. Not that being a renegade was either but it did give you a  
certain amount of freedom. He didn't mean to let it slip about where Arian had come  
from, not consciously anyway. He wondered if Jareth had lied to her all these years or  
if it had just never been mentioned and that Arian had just assumed she was a second  
generation mortal orphan, born and bred in the Underground with insignificant  
heritage. He was reluctant to tell her about 'the incident' as well but figured that she  
would find out eventually and that it wouldn't hurt for her to see it from another  
perspective. For those few moments he let his guard down from thinking about his  
adventure all those years ago. A big mistake because crashed head first into a pair of  
knees. Oh bugger! he recognised those breeches.  
  
******  
  
Arian lay flat on her bed, her body frozen with shock. The moonlight slipped through  
the window, highlighting the tiny specks of dust that were always present. A chilling  
draft danced across her face.  
  
This was too much to take in for one night. Not only had an enormous aspect of her  
home been kept secret from her, but so had her entire existence. She had never really  
thought about where she had come from before. She had always known that the king  
was not her real father and that she had been adopted in her infancy. But to be wished  
away by her own family was far worse than anything she could've guessed. She had  
never really wanted to know what had happened to her natural parents. She had  
secretly hoped that they were dead so she wouldn't have to face up to the fact that they  
hadn't wanted her.  
  
With one swift movement she tore off the thin chain around her neck from which her  
star pendant hung. What had always been a symbol of hope and comfort to her was  
now a dead weight upon her collar bone, mercilessly crushing her. In her rage, she  
flung it across the room where it bounced across the heavy floorboards and the smooth  
jet glistened in the moonlight as if it were a black hole devouring the sun... 


	10. Dances and Discoveries

Chapter Ten - Dances and Discoveries  
  
******  
  
Arian woke up from a disturbed sleep. She wondered if Hoggle had been able to get  
out of the Labyrinth undetected. Quite frankly she didn't care. Yep, that dwarf was  
nothing but a little troublemaker and he deserved everything he got!  
  
That thought in mind, she tried once more to get to sleep. When that didn't wok she  
busied herself by distinguishing patterns in the boards of her wooden ceiling. Shapes  
that had been there all her life jumped out from the knot holes and cracks where they  
had been hiding. There in the corner was the dark oak wolf, while right above her was  
a distorted crown and all manner of faces and creatures. Her ceiling was very much  
like the stars in her mind, but only because it was so familiar. After tiring of this, she  
decided to get up. She ran her hands over her beloved printing press and they  
automatically moved to the large tray of iron letters nearby. Arian had always  
preferred writing by hand but the press was more challenging and satisfied her overly  
active mind. Each tiny letter was skilfully placed to form backward words and  
backward pages. Everything had to be carefully worked out. Then just the right  
amount of ink at just the right consistency at just the right shade of black. Then the  
moment of truth...  
  
She lifted up the heavy weight of the press and admired her handiwork. Of course it  
was beautiful and the story was a gripping if short tale about how an evil dwarf was  
thrown in the Bog of Eternal Stench for trying to stir up hatred among the royal  
family. Mire of Malice was the final title and she had to admit that she felt a lot better  
for it. She was wondering whether she should add an engraving of the title characters  
unflattering end, when she noticed that it was a lot brighter than usual. Good lord! It  
was morning. She had been so engrossed in her work that she hadn't noticed.  
  
There was a knock at the door and a small and particularly ugly goblin entered.  
  
"My Lady. His Majesty requests your company for breakfast."  
  
Oh God! What if he'd found Hoggle? Arian struggled to keep her composure and  
managed to squeeze out a question "Why is that, pray tell?"  
  
"Didn't say, my Lady."  
  
"Bollocks!" she rubbed her eyes with frustration and fatigue, forgetting about the  
copious amount of ink on her fingers.  
  
******  
  
She arrived late as usual. Jareth regarded his daughter with suspicion. He knew that  
troublesome dwarf had got to her somehow but in his haste to punish the creature he  
had forgotten to ask what she knew. The poor girl looked terrible. Black ink stains  
gathered around her eyes and fingers and her hair was messier than ever. He didn't fail  
to note that her pendant was missing.  
  
"Good morning, Arian. Or should I say good afternoon, it just passed thirteen." he said  
with a hint of sarcasm as she sat down and helped herself to some bread.  
  
"Sorry, father. I was..." she had to think quickly "...searching for my pendant. I  
couldn't find it this morning." That would do.  
  
The story made sense but the Goblin King still got the feeling that she was lying. He  
pressed further. "I found a dwarf trespassing in the castle last night. No doubt, he  
must've stolen it?"  
  
Panic welled up inside Arian's stomach but was quickly repressed. "Maybe. Dwarves  
do have a passion for gem stones." she said conversationally.  
  
Jareth still wasn't convinced. "But you didn't see anyone last night?"  
  
"Not a soul. What did you do with him?"  
  
"With who?"  
  
"The dwarf."  
  
"Had him thrown in the Bog like all the other trespassers."  
  
Arian's eyes widened for a moment. This was beginning to sound disturbingly like the  
story she had written the night before! Was it coincidence or had her writing really  
inflicted such a terrible fate. A part of her felt a pang of guilt but another part filled  
her with curiosity and excitement at this discovery. She had to get away and  
experiment further.  
  
She hated lying but she didn't trust herself to tell the truth. It would ultimately lead to  
confrontation, the last thing she needed right now. Her father eyed her suspiciously  
but OT her relief, he let it drop. Something had changed him in her eyes since she had  
learned of his defeat. She wasn't sure if it was a loss or gain of respect but something  
had made him seem more like the person she had known when she was very young  
and it kindled long lost memories of affection.  
  
"On a lighter note, the king of Ethon is throwing a mask this evening and I have  
decided to bring you along. You may have the day off to get ready." said Jareth.  
  
"Me! Why?"  
  
"Because you are my heir and you need to learn how to associate with the right  
people."  
  
Arian nodded sullenly. She didn't want to go but there wasn't going to be any way  
around it. She shuddered at the thought of all those people. Her father noticed her  
displeasure.  
  
"You look like I've just ordered your execution! There's no need to worry. Besides, my  
mother will be there." he said.  
  
"Grandmother's going!" said Arian excitedly. She hadn't seen her in years. It had been  
her grandmother who had introduced her to the books and languages of the  
Overworld. Perhaps the evening wasn't going to be so bad... 


	11. The Pen is mightier than the Crystal!

Chapter Eleven - The Pen is mightier than the Crystal!  
  
******  
  
A/N - All bits written between *asterisks* are what Arian is writing.  
  
******  
  
After what seemed hours, Arian was excused from the breakfast table and hastily  
retreated to her room. Jareth watched her leave, her pendulous braid fluctuating from  
side to side as she ran, streaked with that viscous black ink she used so much. So she  
had lost her pendant, or so she said... The Goblin King smiled as his suspicions were  
proved correct. It was the Star that had been stopping her power somehow, like a dam  
to a reservoir. For that morning, whatever magic he had sensed in her before was  
nothing compared to what he felt now. The dark energies flooded the entire castle,  
suffocating it in an oil spill of cold, metallic fire.  
  
******  
  
Arian breathed a sigh of relief when she reached her tower. Why did he have to make  
her hang around so long, the last encounter could have been shortened to five minutes  
and that would do everyone a favour. She guessed that he knew about her discovery  
about his defeat and was being extra nice to her so she'd keep her mouth shut.   
  
A tiny hopeful thought flickered across her mind, wondering whether her father was  
finally trying get to know her and perhaps ask her forgiveness for the last two years of  
estrangement. She crushed the thought like a fly under a newspaper. That would never  
happen, not in a million years. They had been close once, but that was in the past. And  
as for an apology, never. That was the most certain fact she knew aside from the  
certainty of death. Her father would never apologise and neither would she.  
  
Her eyes fell upon the fresh manuscript she had written the night before and she  
gasped as it reminded her of the dwarf's unhappy fate. She was filled by a burning  
curiosity when the idea struck her, so incredible that it terrified and enthralled her at  
the same time. She rushed across to her desk and pulled out an old scrap of parchment  
and a quill from one of the drawers. She wrote a short paragraph describing her  
surroundings and what she was doing, almost absent-mindedly for she did it all the  
time. Then came the exciting bit...  
  
*...The pen scratched lazily and the short fragments of the once glorious  
feather trembled in the morning breeze...*  
  
Suddenly the nearest window swung open and a fresh morning breeze circled the stale  
atmosphere of the old school room. That was weird!   
  
*...a spider scuttled across the tea-stained oak desktop...*  
  
No sooner than when her quill tip had left the aged sheet, a spider scuttled across the  
desk, just as she'd described!  
  
"Bloody Hell!" she cried out loud.  
  
*...It was followed by a beetle who stopped half way across, spun around three  
hundred and sixty degrees and danced the Continental...*  
  
Arian almost screamed when this also happened exactly as she had written. She was  
about to investigate further when there was a timid little knock at the door.  
  
"What is it?" she called angrily. What a time to be interrupted!  
  
"I've brought you your dress for tonight, my Lady." said the frail voice of one of her  
more regular servants.  
  
Of course! The Mask, she had forgotten all about it. She would have to tell her  
grandmother about this, she would know what it was. Although, knowing her  
grandmother, she probably already knew. The Queen Mother of the Labyrinth had a  
rather unsettling talent for clairvoyance and with a thought could see anything  
happening in the past present or future. This could be really useful but its drawback  
was that it was impossible to lie to the old woman.  
  
The costume was far nicer than she had expected. Arian had a deep dread of looking  
like a meringue. Instead she found a straight midnight blue gown decorated with tiny  
stars hanging on the back of her door. There was also a half mask of the same colour  
with a silver comet painted around the left eye hole. Arian had to admit that it wasn't  
bad. It was ornate and simple at the same time and that suited her just fine.  
  
******  
  
She arrived downstairs in the entrance hall a few hours later. Jareth noted that for the  
first time in her life she was early. Probably exited about seeing her grandmother  
again. He wasn't sure why. The woman had always been an old dragon where he was  
concerned.  
  
"Are you ready, Arian?" he asked.  
  
"As I'll ever be." she replied, idly swinging her mask by her side as she walked.  
Beautiful as they were, those things itched like hell.  
  
"I got you something." said Jareth, trying to sound pleasant but not quite managing it  
somehow. He held out a small pendant on a silver chain for her to take. It was shaped  
like a crescent at the centre of a strange triangular design. Arian recognised it  
immediately. It was the family symbol. Every member of the Labyrinth's royal family  
wore it in some shape or form. "I thought you might like a new one, seeing as your  
star went missing. Shall we get going?" he said conversationally.  
  
"What does it mean?" asked Arian. She was really confused by this sudden act of  
generosity.  
  
"To show everyone who you are."  
  
"That rather defeats the objective of a masked ball, doesn't it?"  
  
"You still need to show you're importance. You are the one true heir to the Labyrinth,  
a political position second only to myself."  
  
"I'm not a true heir though!" Arian cried angrily as he walked through the main gate  
towards the carriage, but there was no answer. 


	12. Reunions and Revalations

Chapter Twelve - Reunions and Revelations  
  
******  
  
"Grandmother!" cried Arian joyfully and rushed into the arms of the older woman.  
  
"Arian! How you've grown! You're quite the young lady now!" said Erestine the  
Queen Mother smiling. Her granddaughter smiled back, then wandered off to  
investigate the small orchestra that had been hired for the occasion. Live music was a  
rare luxury in Arian's experience. Erestine nodded to the sinister figure who had also  
arrived. "Jareth. Long time no see..."  
  
"Good evening, mother." replied the Goblin King blankly.  
  
"Nice to see you too!" said the older woman sarcastically. "You know, it wouldn't hurt  
to call me now and again."  
  
"I'm sorry mother. I've been busy."  
  
"Yes. I know. I was impressed by that Peace Process, by the way. Your father would  
have been proud."  
  
"Thanks." said Jareth. He was forever in awe at how his mother could encourage him  
and make him feel guilty at the same time. "And I will try and make time to see you."  
  
"But it's not me you should be making time for is it?" said Erestine and turned her  
head to look at the young girl who was chatting enthusiastically with a rather stunned  
violinist.  
  
"I have been making time for her." said Jareth angrily "But she always has her head in  
the clouds. She takes no interest in her lessons. She can't even make a simple fire  
spell."  
  
"Funny that. Especially as her power has grown since I last saw her." said Erestine  
with wistful look in her eye. It was that exasperating 'I know something you don't  
know' look. And why wouldn't she? After all the great Erestine sees and knows all,  
Jareth thought. "I noticed that you've given her our symbol." his mother continued  
"That was a sweet gesture."  
  
"I just want her to be acknowledged here, that's all."  
  
"Really?" said Erestine. Resistance was futile. It was impossible to lie to her.  
Although she couldn't read minds she could see all the things that people did when  
they thought they were alone and make a pretty good assumption. "I would have  
thought it meant much more then that. The value of the trinket is meaningless but I  
find your choice of symbol quite fascinating." Jareth said nothing. "I mean why not  
get her the Coin of Princes like all the other heirs. I know you hold a great pride for  
the Labyrinth, but why give such an inexperienced girl such a great symbol of  
importance?"  
  
"You know very well why!" Jareth hissed suddenly. "Was it not you who saw the  
prophecy? Who helped plan this from the very beginning? She will conquer worlds,  
mother. Even her name is synonymous with the power she can wield. Once it is  
unleashed, there will be no limits and with our guidance, she could save this place!"  
  
"You are, of course, correct." said Erestine. "But I know there's more to it than that.  
You're frightened. It's nothing to be ashamed of. Not of her but for her. You're scared  
the responsibility will be too great. That she might destroy herself like so many  
before. You're scared of how she's changing and deep down, you wish that she could  
still be that little girl who hero-worshipped you and wrote stories for you about all the  
adventures the two of you had."  
  
Jareth looked up with shock. How could she know that? He hadn't confessed that  
particular thought to anyone.  
  
"You still read them now and again when you're depressed. Especially the one about  
the friendly dragon..." said Erestine.  
  
"Well, it had so many interesting plot twists." said Jareth unhappily "She really does  
have talent. But she never shows me her work anymore."  
  
"Perhaps you should ask." said Erestine. "You might be pleasantly surprised." she  
gave him a knowing grin and turned to go and find Arian "And Jareth," she said over  
her shoulder.  
  
"Yes, mother?"  
  
"Please do something about your hair!" 


	13. Explanations or at least a few!

Chapter Thirteen - Explanations...at least a few.  
  
******  
  
A/N - I just wanted to say a big thank you to everyone who reviewed.   
Moriana and Mani - Thanks a lot. Glad some new people are giving me feedback. Not  
that I don't love the regulars!  
  
******  
  
Arian nervously observed the dancers from a dark corner of the ballroom. She wasn't  
used to crowds of people and it made her uneasy. She had never been to Ethon before.  
Well at least not in her memory. A young man about her age had insisted that she had  
visited once when they were children. It had turned out that he was the King of  
Ethon's son but she couldn't for the life of her remember his name. He was tall with a  
cheerful round face and flaming red hair and looked as though he should be wearing a  
school uniform instead of all his regalia.  
  
"So are you sure you don't remember?" said the young prince, looking disappointed.  
  
"I'm afraid not." said Arian.  
  
"Really? I taught you archery and you nearly killed me."  
  
Arian's eyes narrowed with concentration then shot open to their full inky-black  
potential "Theo?" she said.  
  
"That's right."  
  
"Oh! I remember now. I was five and you were seven. How are you?"  
  
"Not too bad. My father threw this ball to present me as his official heir, starting the  
two year period of apprenticeship. Then I will be expected to co-rule with him until I  
have a son of my own and he can retire." he boasted and leered at her. Arian figured  
that she had probably blocked this idiot from her memory as opposed to simply  
forgetting him. After all he was the one who had teased her and insisted on playing  
war games when they could have been reading.  
  
"So that's how it works."  
  
"Only in Ethon. I'm not sure about the surrounding kingdoms. How about you?"  
  
"Same old, same old." Arian lied. She knew her new position as an heir to the Goblin  
Throne was highly unorthodox among the Fae nobility. And the prince Thoedorus  
looked like the type of person who would laugh in her face if she told him.  
  
"Is your father still terrorising mortals and stealing their children?" Theo chided.  
  
"Not for a while, no." she growled. Her feelings aside, she did not like to have her  
home and family ridiculed. "And he doesn't steal them. They ask for him to take  
them." she defended, but it sounded whiny and pathetic.  
  
"What ever you say, my dear." he said boredly. Arian's eyes smouldered with anger.  
"Would you care to dance?"  
  
How could he just blatantly insult her then hit on her at the same time. Arian was  
disgusted and stormed off towards the king of Ethon's library, hell-bent on revenge.  
  
******  
  
Erestine glanced in her granddaughter's direction only to notice her striding away  
angrily from the Crown Prince of Ethon himself. Well, to be fair, prince Theo was not  
the type of person to be called 'himself'. In many way, he was just an irritating little  
schoolboy. The Queen Mother of the Labyrinth raised an eyebrow with amusement as  
Arian returned shortly with a notepad and pencil and scribbled something down.  
Immediately she could hear screams around the young prince as his face swelled up  
with a putrid crop of disfiguring boils and pimples. Erestine sighed nostalgically. So  
like Jareth...  
  
******  
  
Arian fought back the giggles as she put he paper and pencil away in one of the folds  
of her dress.  
  
"That wasn't very mature, was it." said a kindly voice by her side. She swung around  
to look into the playful blue eyes of her grandmother. She knew! Of course she knew,  
nothing got past her grandmother.  
  
"It was worth it." she replied realising there was no point in asking questions yet.  
  
"That's quite a clever little trick." said Erestine.  
  
"Does Father know?"  
  
"I gave him a few clues but he's useless at taking hints." said the older woman  
"Happens every Mother's Day." Arian laughed. "Besides, it's your job to tell him.  
When you're ready of course."  
  
"I'd rather keep it secret for now." said Arian.  
  
"It would make him very happy though." said Erestine.  
  
"Why?"  
  
"He thinks you can save our kingdom and bring stability."  
  
"Oh, so it's not so he can just bugger off and leave me with all the work to do, because  
the impression I keep getting!"  
  
"Mind you language." snapped Erestine. "I assume you know, the Labyrinth has been  
beaten? Yes well, since then it has been slowly deteriorating and there's nothing we  
can do to stop it. With a short hundred years it will be reduced to dust. Your father  
was a total wreck after the defeat and couldn't bear the thought of watching his people  
die, powerless to stop it. Then you came along, radiating all this magical energy with  
only a name and a Black Star. Do you know what that means?" Arian shook her head  
"Arianhad was the name of a great spirit. The bringer of Destiny. The Black Star was  
once an important symbol both here and in the Above World. It's true meaning was  
lost but has always been linked with the supremacy of free will."  
  
"So what does that mean?" asked Arian.  
  
"It means, little one, that you alone hold the power of fate and freedom in your  
hands..." said her grandmother and quickly left before she could question her further. 


	14. Trip to the Bog

Chapter Fourteen - Trip to the Bog  
  
******  
  
A/N to Daemon Fairie Queen - Don't worry, the hair stays. It was just a maternal  
complaint.  
  
******  
  
Arian retreated to a dark balcony away from the chaos of the ball room. Her mind  
reeled with what Erestine had told her. Her pulse quickened with shock and her  
breathing began to become erratic with panic. This could not be happening. It was too  
big, too scary. Why? Why her? And HOW?!?! She knew she was good at lots of  
things, but saving a kingdom! It was impossible. She gasped for air which suddenly  
felt viscous and stuffy. Cold metallic energy coursed through her veins and she found  
herself again longing to trace the familiar shapes of words beneath her fingers. She  
couldn't. It was dangerous! Tell that to her hands. They were already seeking out her  
secret pocket where the pencil and note book lay. The urge was far too strong.  
  
*She wished to be somewhere away from the claustrophobic crowd. Where no  
soul would go!*  
  
Only then did she realise the seriousness of what she had written. She could be sent  
anywhere. Probably somewhere so desolate that death would be sure to follow. She  
desperately tried to scribble in some more detail, but her fingers and hands were  
already beginning to fade into thin air. It was too late...  
  
******  
  
Jareth stepped out onto the balcony where he thought his daughter had gone. She had  
looked incredibly distressed and it seemed like the perfect moment to get back in her  
good books and offer some comfort. It was probably that idiotic prince Theodorus,  
that kid was bad news from the start. He drew back the curtain to find nothing but a  
panoramic view of Ethon's capital and the night sky. That was strange! He could have  
sworn Arian had come this way...  
  
******  
  
Arian landed with bump onto the earthy ground and instantly knew exactly where she  
was. It was pitch black, but vision meant diddly squat when it came to recognising this  
place. The smell said it all.  
  
Oh crap! She had just teleported herself to the Bog of Eternal Stench! Damn poetic  
irony!  
  
Luckily she seemed to have landed in anything particularly nasty, but it was too dark  
to be trying to find a way out and any number of disgusting accidents could happen.  
She couldn't move, no matter how tempting it was. She then noticed she had landed  
next to a small pile of rocks and sat bolt upright against them, cushioned by the soft  
moss. It was pointless trying o sleep so all she could do was sit quietly and wait until  
morning and ignore the revolting smell that clung to everything around her like a  
viscous oil.  
  
******  
  
She awoke the next morning, stiff and nauseous. The few blissful seconds before she  
realised where she was and before the putrid smell reached her nostrils again were  
short lived. How the hell had she managed to sleep through That?!! Still is was dawn  
and a few pale strands of light slipped between the thick branches of the slimy trees.  
There was the Bog in all its glory. Now it was light, Arian gasped at how close to the  
edge she had been. That was lucky, a few feet to the left and she would have met a  
very noxious end. Her eye fell on the note pad she had 'borrowed' the night before a  
short distance away and she gleefully snatched it up. This was her ticket out of here.  
Her pencil was poised above the ivory paper...when she heard a loud moan come from  
nearby!  
  
Frozen to the spot, she looked on in horror as a small pile of...something began  
moving towards her. It looked like an overly ripe compost heap! Arian screamed with  
terror.  
  
"Don't worry, missy. I won't harm ya." said a familiar voice from inside the many  
layers of mud and bog water.  
  
"Hedgewart?" she squeaked uncertainly.  
  
"Hoggle!!" said the heap.  
  
"What happened to you?"  
  
"What does it look like!!" snapped the Hoggle heap angrily. "I'll stink forever because  
of you!"  
  
"What do you mean 'because of me'? I didn't ask you to come sneaking round the  
castle in the early hours of the morning!" Arian argued. "And I definitely didn't ask  
you to mess up my whole life by telling me my whole existence has been a lie up this  
point!"  
  
"I thought you wanted to know the truth."  
  
"Well the truth sucks!" she yelled. It sounded pathetic and childish but she said it  
anyway "I wish I'd never met you because then I wouldn't have all these unanswered  
questions and then I would be happy!"  
  
"I was only tryin' ta help!"  
  
"No. You just wanted to get me curious so I'd learn how to go Aboveground and take  
you to this precious Sarah person you were babbling about!"  
  
"How did you know that?!" said Hoggle, his bushy eyebrows shooting up with shock.  
  
"It's obvious you two were friends and she hasn't called you since. Well guess what!  
She's the one destroying this place. The defeat has rendered the Labyrinth obsolete and  
it's me who's expected to clean it up."  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"I mean that my family thinks I can save this place and they're counting on me. And I  
can't do it! It's just too great a task!"  
  
She slouched back against her rock and didn't say anything. The smell was getting  
pretty distracting so she scribbled down a few lines of writing and transported them to  
a different part of the Labyrinth.  
  
"How did you do that?" said Hoggle with amazement "I thought you said you were  
crap at magic."  
  
"I just write things down and they happen." replied Arian, a little shocked that the  
smell was still present. She then remembered it was coming from Hoggle and wrote  
something down.  
  
Hoggle jumped when he found himself cleaner than he had been in years and smelling  
slightly of Cologne.  
  
"Cor! Thanks, missy!" he squeaked.  
  
"I didn't do it for you. You were beginning to make me feel ill." said Arian coldly.  
  
"So everything you write happens?" asked Hoggle.  
  
"Everything so far." said Arian. "There must be something that doesn't work." she  
thought for a moment. "Higgle?"  
  
"Hoggle!" said the dwarf.  
  
"Whatever. Would this girl be able to help? Save the Labyrinth that is."  
  
"I dunno. For all we know she could have forgotten about this place."  
  
"But it would be worth a try, right?"  
  
"It's probably the best course of action. If you want to solve a problem you should go  
to it's cause..."  
  
Arian considered this for a moment, then scribbled some more notes down and a dark  
swirling portal appeared out of thin air. Inside it, if they looked closely was the image  
of a small hill under a bright cloudless sky with some duck swimming in a nearby  
pool.  
  
"Wow! You are good!" cried Hoggle. "Not even 'is Majesty can do that!" 


	15. Londinium

Chapter Fifteen - Londinium  
  
******  
  
A/N - We regret to inform you that due to technical difficulties, there will be no  
badger parade. Parade cancelled!  
Therefore, could all owls (barn or tawny) please make their way to the stage door.  
I would also like to remind any bats here this evening that the electronic equipment  
used may interfere with your sophisticated radar system.  
  
Also a big thank you to :  
Mari - Well, I don't like to be predictable but it was necessary in this instance.  
queen of all the tarts - Eek! Please don't eat me! Hee hee! That was a good one.  
Thanks for adding me to your favourites list.  
  
Now on with the story!  
  
******  
  
In the shadows of the castle throne room, two figures watched the scene unfold inside  
a glowing crystal that seemed to defy all laws of gravity. Inside it was the distorted  
image of the girl and the dwarf cautiously stepping through a dark, swirling portal.  
  
"Gods! What is she DOING!!!" cried Jareth, his tone unwittingly giving away his  
anger, fear and confusion in equal measure.  
  
"Well my guess would be that she just made a portal to the Aboveworld." said  
Erestine happily. "Aren't you proud?"  
  
"But she's just a child! It's too dangerous. I'm bringing her back, right now!"  
  
"Jareth!" said the Queen Mother and grabbed his arm. "Did it ever occur to you that  
this is supposed to happen? That this might be what the prophecy talked about."  
  
"Screw the stupid prophecy! That's my little girl out there!" he shouted and was met  
with a triumphant grin from his mother.  
  
"So you do care." she said "I knew it! And for the last time, don't worry. She was  
wished to you, so technically you can bring her back whenever you want. Let her have  
her little adventure, and if it gets too dangerous then you can interfere."  
  
******  
  
Terry Jones was sitting idly at the top of Primrose Hill with a thermos full of tea and a  
Waitrose egg and cress sandwich. He flicked through his script for his new  
programme on medieval Britain. It was a beautiful day in London. Ducks were  
swimming along the pond and some children were flying a kite nearby. The every day  
cacophony of traffic seemed so distant today that they might as well be on another  
planet. He was struck quite rudely out of this reverie when a big black whirly thing  
appeared out of nowhere a few yards away from where he was sitting and out stepped  
a very short and ugly little man followed by a teenage girl in a dirty 18th century  
Venetian ballgown! The whirly thing then disappeared and the strange duo began  
sprinting to towards the park's exit and out of sight.  
  
He looked down at his thermos. Maybe that tea Michael had brought him back from  
Egypt wasn't tea after all.  
  
******  
  
"So! What do we do now?" said Arian as she and Hoggle finally stopped on an  
abandoned shady path along the river bank.  
  
"Search me!" said the dwarf.  
  
"But I thought you'd been here before!" she cried with horror.  
  
"Well I thought you'd been here before!" said Hoggle.  
  
"I was eighteen months old, Hogbrain!!" she shouted.  
  
"It's HOGGLE!"  
  
"Oh God! This is bad. I swear, after this, I'll never act on an impulse ever again." said  
Arian angrily "Oh well. There's no point in arguing. We'll just have to think of  
something."  
  
"Well, for a start, I think ya should use that magic book of yours and get us some  
decent disguises." said Hoggle.  
  
"Why's that?"  
  
"In case ya haven't noticed, missy. There ain't no dwarf peasants here, and there ain't  
no Goblin princesses in party frocks neither."  
  
Arian scowled. The little sneak had a point but she wasn't going to let him get off that  
easily. She pulled out her note pad and pencil and wrote something down. In the blink  
of an eye she was dressed like the kids she had seen in the park when they first arrived  
with tight blue jeans and a black T-shirt. However her hair stayed as it was and the  
pendant her father had given her the night before remained around her neck.   
  
Hoggle looked down and noticed that he was wearing blue shorts, rainbow stripy  
T-shirt, black trainers and a sun hat. This was forgotten instantly when he noticed his  
hands. What he was used to as being tanned and leathery were now white and pudgy  
with youth and for the first time in centuries he had hair!  
  
"What the hell did ya do to me!?!" he cried with panic.  
  
"I couldn't have you arousing suspicion now, could I?" said Arian giving him a look  
that  
was disturbingly like Jareth's "If anyone asks, you're my five year old brother ...er ...  
Freddie."  
  
"This is so humiliating." mumbled the dwarf.  
  
"Would you rather I turned you into a dog? Then at least I wouldn't have to listen to  
your complaining."  
  
"No ma'am." said Hoggle sulkily.  
  
******  
  
They wondered the city for hours, exploring mile upon mile of identical streets full of  
identical houses line with rows and rows of identical cherry trees. Occasionally they  
would come to a bustling high street filled with all kinds of people and shops and  
restaurants. Giant mechanical carriages whizzed along the infinite roads or parked in  
long queues. Hundreds of tiny greens where men dressed in white tried to hit a leather  
ball with a wooden plank. The homeless sold magazines on street corners and gangs  
of youths haunted the many derelict housing estates. Arian tried to memorise all the  
place names but they were just too confusing. Hammersmith, Twickenham,  
Blackfriars, Chiswick, Watford, Kingston, Staines, Richmond...the list went  
on forever and none of them were that much different from each other.  
  
"Bloody hell! This place makes the Labyrinth look like a dawdle!" she said to herself.  
For the first time in her life she felt lost. That was strange for someone who had been  
brought up in a giant maze, but in truth she had always known that nothing bad would  
happen to her and that she was never more than twenty miles away from the castle.  
Now she felt truly lost and anonymous, which both scared and thrilled her at the same  
time. This place was truly fascinating, with its culture and technology.  
  
She had found some money in the street and had instantly set about making some  
magic copies of the little pound coin. Things were always easier with currency.  
  
"Do you have any idea where we're going?" said Hoggle who, unlike Arian was  
feeling rather uneasy about the whole situation and was not happy when his new  
friend began admiring phone booths and parking metres. He had very little to worry  
about though, as no one pays attention to anything in London.  
  
"No. Isn't it great!" she replied happily as they reached a set of traffic lights.  
  
"So we're lost?" said Hoggle he familiar cowardice bubbling to the surface.  
  
"I never said we were lost, I just don't know where we're going." she said coolly  
"Oooh! Brixton Underground! I wonder what that is." and rushed off in the direction  
of the train station.  
  
Arian eyed the grotty little subway station with wonder and almost squealed with  
excitement when the 11:15 trundled past.  
  
"Oh Haggle! Let's go on one!" she cried gleefully as the long metal dragon stopped for  
its usual exchange for passengers then continued it's long journey through the dark  
tunnels on each end of the platform.  
  
"No way! I've looked at too many machines for a lifetime, let alone a mornin'." said  
the dwarf.  
  
"Come on! We'll be able to cover more ground." she persisted.  
  
"If we have to, then. But I wants something to eat first. We've been walking for five  
hours now!"  
  
Again the dwarf had a point as Arian noticed her own grumbling stomach. They made  
their way to a grimy cafe nearby for lunch and to start planning their best course of  
action... 


	16. Greasy spoon and the London Underground

Chapter Sixteen - Greasy spoon and the London Underground  
  
******  
  
A/N - Yes. Sarah will come into this one. She id living in London in this story which  
will be explained in the next chapter so this isn't a wild goose chase!  
  
Daemon Faerie Queen - Glad you liked the Monty Python bit. I love those guys and  
seeing as Terry Jones wrote the screenplay for Laby I thought it would be kinda neat.  
  
"Excuse me?" said Arian nervously when she reached to grimy counter.  
  
The elderly waitress looked up from her crossword puzzle and came eyeball to ebony  
eyeball with a slightly strange young girl and a grumpy looking five year old boy.  
She'd always liked children but knowing of the destructive nature of the gangs in the  
area, she still stayed wary.  
  
"May I help you, dear?" she said sweetly.  
  
"Um... yes. Could I have a tea and toast and a bacon sandwich for my brother here."  
said Arian eyeing the rather one-dimensional menu.  
  
"Of course. That'll be five pound thirty. I'll bring it over in a minute." said the  
waitress, relieved that they had not pulled a knife out and demanded money. Still, no  
one would be stupid enough to do that in broad daylight. She looked down to see that  
the strange girl had not only given her the five pounds she'd asked for but added  
another thirty small chunky coins as well, all arranged neatly into little piles of ten.  
She was about to call after her and correct her but thought better of it and swiped the  
cash into her purse before anyone noticed.  
  
"Cor! This place is disgusting!" said Hoggle angrily "And I hate to say it but you,  
missy, was nicely jibbed back there!"  
  
"Jibbed?" said Arian, looking puzzled.  
  
"Ripped off."  
  
"Oh."  
  
"So, what's the plan?"  
  
"What plan?"  
  
"The plan! How are we going to get to Sarah?"  
  
"Oh, that plan." Arian mumbled as the waitress appeared with their food. She bit into  
her toast thoughtfully. It wasn't bad, much better than the piles of charcoal the goblins  
usually served her. The tea was quite nice too. Idly she flipped through the only book  
in the building that was bright yellow and next a strange machine on the wall. Her  
dark eyes gleamed as an idea struck her "Hogswald?"  
  
"Hoggle!"  
  
"Whatever. Do you know this girl's full name by any chance?"  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Because this book is filled with people's names and where they live!"  
  
"Oh."  
  
"So do you know it?"  
  
"Do I know what?"  
  
"Her surname."  
  
"Who's surname?"  
  
Arian growled with frustration "It's hopeless asking you anything!"  
  
"Not if you ask he right questions." said Hoggle mysteriously.  
  
"What is Sarah's surname?"  
  
"Ah! Now that's more like it." said Hoggle "Williams. At least it was when I knew  
her. She might have got married since."  
  
"Well, let's hope not." said Arian and flicked through the yellow book to the W  
section. Tracing the column with her finger, she squinted at the page and swore under  
her breath.   
  
"What? What is it?" asked Hoggle.  
  
"There's ten of them!" cried Arian. "We'll just have to find all of them!" she said after  
a pause then got out her notebook to copy the addresses down.  
  
"Wait! Are you sure that's safe?" said Hoggle just as her pencil was poising itself. The  
last thing he wanted was magical explosions in front of all these mortals.  
  
"Good point, Hogsnout. You write it down."  
  
"Ah! Should have told ya this before but I can't write." said the dwarf/boy.  
  
Arian glared at him and settled for tearing out the corresponding page in the phone  
book, as much as hated destroying something literary.  
  
******  
  
They rushed out of the cafe once they had finished their lunch and Arian quickly led  
them back to the tube station.  
  
"Wait a minute!" cried Hoggle "Can't you just zap us there or something?"  
  
"I can." said Arian fiendishly "But we're going on the big engine thing."  
  
"Erm...Arian. You gots to understand my position here. I'm a coward and big engine  
things scare me."  
  
"Oh where's your sense of adventure, Hogwart?" sighed Arian.  
  
"Back home with all my other things." the dwarf whined. "And I want to go back  
there!"  
  
"Tell you what. I'll go on my own and you can go home and explain to father where  
I've gone!" she said menacingly.  
  
"Fine! I'll go on the big engine thingy." groaned Hoggle. Anything was better than  
explaining this mess to Jareth. Although he had a horrible feeling that he already  
knew.  
  
Arian grinned at him and dragged him by the hand to the ticket booth. Nearby, hidden  
in the fresh new blossoms of a cherry tree perched a white owl casually observing  
what the would do next.... 


	17. Enter Sarah!

Chapter Seventeen - Enter Sarah  
  
Earlier that day, Sarah Williams woke up once again to the sound of British  
Airways overhead. Still, what would you expect living just a stone's throw away from  
the country's largest airport? It didn't matter any more. After six months, she had just  
got used to it, like everyone else in the neighbourhood. However it was still far from  
where she wanted to be. She had arrived in England nearly a year ago, ironically in the  
same airport that was now causing her insomnia. Instead of the mysterious, ancient  
land she had been expecting it was actually...rather crap!  
  
Sure there had been acting jobs. Truthfully they were only for experimental stuff that  
was only watched by about ....oh...three people. In the end it just didn't bring in the  
mula so she settled for a job teaching drama at a rather straight laced girl's school. St  
Catherines was not the best path to fame and fortune but it paid the rent and as the  
youngest teacher there at twenty eight the kids always found her the easiest to talk to.   
  
Earlier that year she had managed to rent her own piece of post war suburbia with  
Kew and Richmond both within walking distance. The house itself was a little poky  
but perfect for one person with a small back garden and terrace. The layout of the  
building was utterly insane. Her landlord told her that it had been split up into student  
bedsits up until the eighties and that was the reason why there was a fireplace in the  
hallway and a toilet in the broom closet. Just your everyday quirkiness.  
  
Life wasn't that bad, yet she still sorely missed her friends and family that she had left  
behind. But she couldn't make herself go back somehow. There were just too many  
memories, all involving narrow winding passages and tiny creatures skittering around  
and stairs! Lots and lots of stairs...  
  
She shook herself out of that reverie. No good dwelling on that little trip and all the  
ahem unpleasantness that went with it.  
  
The doorbell rang. Its shrill cry echoed through the silence of the house and made  
Sarah jump with surprise. Damn! If it was those bloody Jehovah's Witnesses  
again...she would buy a very powerful water pistol and blast them through the letter  
box! Ha ha!  
  
She opened the door and looked straight into a pair of pitch coloured eyes, so dark  
they were almost like two caverns beneath the sea. They stood out shockingly on the  
girl's face as they were surrounded by ivory skin and mousy brown hair streaked with  
burnt gold. The girl looked about Toby's age, in her early teens. Although she was  
only wearing jeans and a plain T-shirt, she carried herself with an educated elegance  
unheard of in this world. Her entire presence radiated dark, mystical energy, the type  
of which Sarah had only encountered once prior to that day. And that pendant! She  
had definitely seen that symbol before.  
  
At the girl's side was her opposite. A short and, she had to admit, ugly boy with a  
grumpy expression that far exceeded his seemingly young age. Unpleasant as the child  
looked, he still gave off a strong feeling of nostalgia and familiarity.  
  
"Good evening." said the girl and smiled. Her voice was clear and accented and  
evidently British...and yet...somehow it wasn't! "Am I right in thinking that you are  
Miss Sarah Williams?"  
  
Arian mentally gave herself a pat on the back for that little display. She had never  
really tried to act regally before so she just imitated what her father usually did. She  
was also terribly nervous. Meeting the champion of the Labyrinth was no walk in the  
park and Arian felt somewhat in awe of the woman standing in front of her. She had  
solved the Labyrinth in only thirteen hours! Something that it had taken her years of  
practice to accomplish.  
  
"Who are you?" said Sarah. Fear flooding into her mind.  
  
"Sarah?" said the boy. Instead of a high, innocent voice came an old and gravely one.  
A voice that Sarah instantly recognised.  
  
"Hoggle?" she said uncertainly.  
  
"That's right!" said the boy.  
  
"What happened to you?"  
  
"It's a long story." said the dwarf/boy "May we come inside?"  
  
Once inside the tiny house, Arian quickly scribbled something down and Hoggle  
transformed into his normal, ugly self. Sarah jumped at the metamorphosis but didn't  
notice how she had done it.   
  
"So, Who are you?" said Sarah to the young girl who was staring intently at the  
vacuum cleaner. The child quickly looked up as if she had been caught doing  
something wrong then relaxed a little. She didn't look at all threatening, Sarah  
decided, just nervous and trying to appear calm.  
  
"I'm Arian." she said simply.  
  
"Are you from the Labyrinth as well?" the girl nodded but didn't explain further. "Why  
are you here?"  
  
"Hoghead wanted to see you. I just provided the transportation." said Arian bluntly  
and scrutinised one of the bookshelves.  
  
"Oh." said Sarah.  
  
"Miss Arian's a friend of mine." said Hoggle trying to kick start the conversation  
"She's very interested in this world, aren't ya."  
  
"Yes, we spent all day sampling the public transport." said Arian. Christ! She hated  
small talk.  
  
"So how did you two meet?" asked Sarah getting a terrible feeling that they weren't  
telling the entire truth.  
  
"Well, we met a few days ago and started chatting a bit. Then I got thrown in the Bog  
of Eternal Stench but Arian saved me with this weird magic she's got. And then we  
thought we might as well see what she could do so she made a portal to the  
Aboveworld and here we are." said Hoggle hurriedly.  
  
"You got thrown in the Bog!" said Sarah angrily. "For what?"  
  
"Trespassing and conspiracy apparently." said Hoggle proudly. "Better than my usual  
stock of crimes even if it is a load of fairy dung!"  
  
"I see nothing's changed then." said Sarah "The Goblin King's reign of terror prevails."  
she added bitterly and turned to Arian again certain that there was something more  
and determined to hear the truth. She felt outraged that her old friend was being  
treated in such a way and that her victory had no obvious effect on the land she had  
visited so many years ago. "So, Arian. Do you know Jareth at all?"  
  
"I know of him." said Arian after a small hesitation. She had guessed that this woman  
would not be on the best of terms with her father so she tried hard not to give herself  
away just yet. She changed the subject and turned back to the bookcase "Wow  
Shakespeare's complete works. You have no idea how rare these things are at home."  
  
"Where is home?" asked Sarah. Damn it! She wasn't going to give up was she. Arian  
just didn't have the energy to lie and she was rubbish at it anyway.  
  
"The...castle." she said and looked at the floor.  
  
"So you do know him then." the girl nodded "How?"  
  
Here we go! said a nasty little voice in Arian's mind. She looked her interrogator  
straight in the eye and said "He's my father!" 


	18. Stressful Day

Chapter Eighteen - Stressful Day  
  
"What!?!" cried Sarah. She knew there had to be something sinister about the girl but  
nothing could have prepared her for this. She just thought the girl was a servant or a  
spy. A child of the Goblin King? The very idea was too extraordinary to contemplate.  
  
"Well not biologically." said Arian trying in vain to calm the woman down. "I was  
wished away when I was very young and he adopted me."  
  
"And you're OK with that?"  
  
"Not really! I only found out when Hogbrain here had to open his big mouth."  
  
"It's HOGGLE!!" screamed the dwarf angrily.  
  
"I didn't know the Goblin King had a daughter!" said Sarah.  
  
"Well if you had bothered to call, missy, I would have told ya." snapped Hoggle.  
  
"Oh! Right. Sorry about that." she replied sheepishly then turned back to Arian "But  
why? What are you doing here? You haven't run away, have you?"  
  
"No! Of course not." said Arian defensively "Well, at least, I intend to go back. Just  
not right now."  
  
"What's happened?" said Sarah staring wide-eyed at the strange girl in front of her.  
  
"I really don't want to talk about it." replied the girl suddenly looking very harassed  
and fragile. "I've been walking round in circles all day and squashed into trains and  
things and I'd really like to lie down now." It was the truth. She was exhausted from  
her little outing with Hoggle. The hot and muggy day had not helped with its mixture  
of carbon monoxide and human perspiration and although it was early April the city  
still felt like it was under the searing grill of summer.  
  
Ten minutes later and Arian was fast asleep in the only bedroom while Sarah and  
Hoggle caught up over a mug of instant coffee. Inevitably the conversation led to the  
slumbering girl above them.  
  
"So what's wrong with her?" asked Sarah.  
  
"Nothing's wrong with hers. She just wanted some time out." replied the dwarf. "His  
Majesty's been pressuring her to take over the kingdom and she's wants no part in it."  
  
"Poor thing. It must be horrible being stuck all alone in that castle with Him."  
  
"Well I don't know her that well, but I think she's a tad neglected." said Hoggle,  
always one for gossip. "Jareth's been pretty preoccupied with foreign affairs these last  
few years so she's been alone for a long time. And now she's supposed to learn magic  
and become a princess just like that! Yous can see how stressful it must be."  
  
"Sounds terrible!" said Sarah. She knew full well what it was like to be ignored as a  
child. She would have to make this kid feel accepted and make her stay as enjoyable  
as it could be. It was a good idea to always let the child open up to you in their own  
time once you earn their trust... 


	19. The Evening of Discussion

Chapter Nineteen - The evening of discussion  
  
Arian's dark eyes fluttered open to unusual surroundings. Her familiar piles of ancient  
tomes and the bare stone walls of her room were nowhere to be found. Instead she was  
in a small airy bedroom, tastefully decorated in lilac and silver (Sarah had got this idea  
from Changing Rooms on TV) the everyday draughts were gone and the unnatural  
orange glow of the street lamp outside streamed through the window onto the white  
duvet. After her usual moment of grogginess she remembered where she was and  
slammed her head down on the pillow with relief. The day had been exhausting but  
there was still a whole new and exciting world to discover. She looked at the clock on  
the bedside table and smiled at the novelty of seeing a twelve hour face, she still  
wasn't used to it. It was eight in the evening and the city outside was still buzzing with  
activity. A plane overhead, people laughing in the street, the neighbour's dog... It all  
sounded so strange and yet so natural! For the first time in her life, Arian felt truly at  
home and nothing was going to make her leave it. Not even Labyrinths and Goblin  
Kings.  
  
There was a knock at the door and the woman she had met earlier walked in. She  
looked a lot more at ease than she had done before. No doubt Higgle had filled her in  
on the details.  
  
"I made dinner if you something to eat." said Sarah.  
  
"Oh. Yes, thank you." the girl replied and quietly followed her downstairs. She could  
hear loud snoring coming from the living room.  
  
"Hoggle decided to go to bed early." Sarah explained.  
  
"Oh."  
  
"I hope you don't mind sleeping on the floor." she continued.  
  
"No. That's fine." said Arian as they sat at the kitchen table. She eyed the macaroni  
Sarah served her with suspicion, took a small bite then smiled. It must've been to her  
liking.  
  
"So, Arian, tell me about yourself." said Sarah.  
  
"Well, I'll be fifteen in October and I love reading. Books from the aboveground are  
my favourite. I know you're supposed to stop reading them when you begin to grow up  
but I just find them fascinating." Sarah was surprised at how much the girl knew about  
her world's literature, although she didn't know anything that came later than 1900.  
She was also astounded to know that this girl was fluent in nearly all the Latin and  
Arabic based languages and listened with fascination as the Goblin King's daughter  
proudly chatted on about her plans for studying Eastern European languages and  
possibly going on to look at Chinese and all other character based scripture. She told  
her about her writing efforts and how to bind books properly and make repairs, how to  
use a printing press and the differences between letterpress and flexography. She  
talked about the Underground's constellations and astronomy and how the Labyrinth  
worked on a fine balance between magic and time. Sarah just couldn't believe how  
talented the girl was and even if the subject she was talking about was the most boring  
thing on the planet, Arian would point out some fascinating fact about it and explain  
every minute complexity with perfect clarity while still keeping you on the edge of  
your seat. The girl could make a fine teacher with no problems at all. In return, Sarah  
told her about her adventures in the Labyrinth and her life and memories with Toby  
and how she came to England.  
  
"...And then I got my job at St Catherines." she finished, proudly noticing that Arian  
was hanging on her every word.  
  
"What kind of place is St Catherines?" the teen asked.  
  
"It's a school for girls. It's where children go to be educated. I teach drama." Sarah  
explained when she saw her new friend's blank expression.  
  
"All at the same time?" asked Arian. Sarah nodded "A whole building dedicated to  
knowledge! And they have lots of tutors there?" another nod. Arian's eye filled with  
wonder a the thought. Hundreds of like minded people all striving for the same goal,  
leaning the importance of knowledge and life...  
  
"Didn't you go to school?" asked Sarah wondering how Fae royalty dealt with  
education.  
  
"No. My grandmother taught me most of what I know, my father the rest."  
  
"You have a grandmother?"  
  
"Yes. The Queen Mother of the Labyrinth. She stayed with us for two years until I was  
about ten then she left to travel the Underground. She doesn't like to stay in one place  
for too long."  
  
"And you're father?"  
  
"We haven't been getting on that well recently..." Arian stated simply.  
  
"Why's that?"  
  
"I don't know." the child who been so talkative a few moments ago was now looking  
uneasy and had once again fallen silent.  
  
"Hoggle said something about a Peace Process." Sarah pressed further.  
  
"Yeah. The two neighbouring kingdoms were at war and father was appointed to  
make negotiations as a neutral party. I don't really know what it was about but it was  
very time consuming." said Arian. She was reluctant to say anything else. But she was  
pretty sure that Sarah was the nicest person she had met and felt the overwhelming  
urge to tell her new friend everything she knew and felt. No wonder she had solved  
the Labyrinth! All she had to do was engage some creature in conversation, make  
them feel important and sneak in some strategic questions.  
  
"Perhaps you resented him being away all that time." Sarah suggested.   
  
"Yes that's probably it." sighed Arian, knowing full well it was only a fraction of the  
truth. Sarah saw the tears welling up in her eyes and decided to call it a night. The  
poor girl was exhausted as it was. They did the washing up together in silence and  
then Arian faced a disturbed night on the living room floor with a snoring dwarf  
keeping her awake on the sofa beside her... 


	20. Confrontation

Chapter Twenty - Confrontation  
  
The sun rose over the city, casting its dirty pink glow through the dark clouds over the  
endless avenues of identical buildings. It was too early for anyone to notice, but there  
were any witnesses they would have seen a white barn owl perch in one fluid motion  
on top of the sign to Algar Road and glare coldly at the house opposite with its huge,  
saucer-like eyes.  
  
Arian had eventually given up trying to sleep. She had received the terrible misfortune  
of sharing a room with Hoggle whose snoring was on the same decibel level as a fog  
horn. Instead, she had silently crept into the tiny dining area and steadily worked her  
way through Sarah's bookshelf. She was half way through a battered copy of Orwell's  
1984 when Sarah came downstairs for breakfast. The young woman jumped at the  
sight of the strange girl framed by two tall piles of books.  
  
"How long have you been up?" she asked.  
  
"Since one in the morning." Arian replied "Don't worry. I'm not much of a sleeper.  
The Goblins had a nasty habit of sneaking up on me when I was asleep. They stopped  
after a while but I'm still vigilant out of habit."  
  
"Oh."  
  
"This is an interesting book. Was it really like that in 1984?" the girl asked.  
  
"No. It was just a prediction the author made if the world were fall under a totalitarian  
regime." said Sarah.  
  
"Oh, I see." said Arian. There was a short pause "Um...Sarah, I was just thinking, you  
know, about that school where you work."  
  
"What about it?"  
  
"Do you think I could be able to go?"  
  
The question took Sarah by surprise. The Goblin King's daughter wanting to go to  
school! The whole idea was too surreal.   
  
"I've thought about it since the moment I got here." explained Arian "I know I've only  
been here for a day but I never want to leave." the natural light through the window  
darkened and a distant roll of thunder growled quietly from somewhere far away. "I  
feel I belong here. This place has something familiar about it that the Labyrinth never  
came close to." An unusually strong wind howled across the tiny garden out side. "I  
want to learn how to be part of it and meet people and make friends my own age... I  
want to be..." she continued. Lightening flickered on the opposite wall and filled the  
room with a cold buzzing energy with a deafening crash. Sarah had felt that energy  
before and was beginning to get nervous. What made her even more nervous was that  
the same, raw power seemed to be radiating off the girl in front of her in equal  
measure to the storm outside.  
  
"...Normal?" said Sarah uneasily, finishing Arian's sentence for her.  
  
"Yes. Normal." said the girl sadly "I don't want to go back to the Labyrinth!" Another  
roll of thunder, louder this time. "I don't want power, or magic, wealth! And I don't  
care if the place is dying, I want to be normal!"  
  
And then the world crashed out of focus as an unnaturally blue bolt of lightening  
struck so close it made their eyes ring. Hundreds of little grotesque shadows skittered  
across the walls and floor. And there it was, the white owl. Flapping against the  
French window trying impatiently to enter. Sarah stood up with fright while Arian  
groaned and buried her face in her hands. The window crashed open and the gale  
carried the heavy raindrops across the laminate flooring. Arian felt her stomach lurch.  
Saying all those things did not seem very clever anymore as she gazed intently at the  
pair of riding boots that stepped in from the half light, not daring to look her father in  
the face.  
  
"Arian. So this is where you've been hiding." said Jareth casually and eyed the room  
with distaste. Arian forced herself to hold her head up and to remain calm. Her face  
said nothing but the dark spacescapes of her eyes smouldered with a dangerous  
concoction of anger and fear. The Goblin King held out his hand to her. "Come. We  
must leave."  
  
Then something snapped inside the young girl. She had been avoiding this  
confrontation for too long now but something in the air of this new world gave her a  
new confidence. She was where she belonged and no one was going to spoil it...  
  
"No." she said quietly but with perfect clarity and courage. Scared whispers erupted  
from the shadows.  
  
"Arian. I've been more than lenient with you up till now but it is time for us to go."  
said Jareth dangerously.  
  
"Lenient? I think negligent describes it better!" Arian spat "I bet you didn't even  
realise I was gone until I didn't show up for your precious magic lessons!"  
  
"You know that's not true!"  
  
"And you're only interested in me because I can save your kingdom from the mess you  
made of it and leave me in charge so you can bugger off and enjoy yourself."  
  
"Arian, you're beginning to test my patience."  
  
"I don't care! I'm not leaving!" shouted Arian and grabbed her notebook before  
running into the living room and slamming the door behind her. Jareth quickly  
followed but the girl had already written some quick notes about an impenetrable  
room and the Goblin King was pushed violently backwards as soon as he touched the  
door handle. He tried to force his way in with some of the most powerful spells in the  
Underground but nothing could break the fortress Arian had built. Jareth had to admit  
it was impressive but grew more and more frustrated as every attempt to open the door  
failed. He turned angrily to face the terrified drama teacher who had been accidentally  
left in the room with him... 


	21. The Agreement

Chapter Twenty One - The Agreement!  
  
Hoggle was having a lovely dream about inventing a new and more effective fairy  
spray. He was then rudely pulled back into consciousness when a furious teen barged  
in to the room he was sleeping in and slammed the door loudly behind her. Upon  
realising that he was not at home in bed but in a completely different world, staying  
with his human friend and a renegade Goblin Princess, Hoggle felt his heart sink.  
  
"Eh? What's goin' on?" he mumbled as Arian frantically scribbled something down  
and the walls began to glow with a faint blue light.  
  
"Father's here." she explained.  
  
"WHAT!!!"  
  
"Don't worry. I've sealed the room off." said the girl.  
  
"Where's Sarah?"  
  
"Pardon?"  
  
"WHERE'S SARAH?!?" shouted the dwarf with terror.  
  
"Oh NO!" cried Arian "I forgot about Sarah! Oh Crap!" she took out her notebook  
"Don't worry. I'll just bring her here and..." she marked the final full stop but nothing  
happened. "That's weird!" she tried again but still nothing happened. Then she looked  
at what she had already written. "Oh Damn it!"  
  
"What!" cried Hoggle, who was shaking now.  
  
"I said nothing could get in here! The only way to get Sarah in here is to destroy the  
spell! I don't know about you but that kind of defies the point of making a magic  
fortress!"  
  
Sarah stood aghast as she realised that her friend had just abandoned her and she was  
now alone in her dining room with one seriously pissed off Goblin King. 'Great! Nice  
one! You had to stay and watch when you should have been heading for the hills!' she  
thought to herself.  
  
Jareth glared at her but didn't say anything. He looked slightly older than he had been  
when they first met. Somehow frailer and thinner with dark rings under his eyes.  
  
The silence was getting unbearable and Sarah felt she had to say something. "You  
can't force her to go back with you." she said and mentally kicked herself.  
  
"Well, obviously not because then I wouldn't be locked out like this, would I." said  
Jareth sarcastically. "Stay out of this, Sarah. This does not concern you."  
  
"It does concern me! That's my friend you're trying to kidnap!"  
  
"I'm not kidnapping her, I'm bringing her home!" he snarled "For God's Sake, Sarah!  
You won! I gave you back the child. Why must you interfere with mine? She's vital  
for the Labyrinth's survival. If she doesn't go back it will be destroyed and all your  
other precious 'friends' will either perish or be left homeless. Is that what you want?"  
  
"What do you mean?" said Sarah.  
  
"Don't put on that innocent act, that's how you beat me in the first place and started  
this whole mess. It must have been the perfect opportunity. You found her, lost and  
alone, you found out what she was, you won her confidence, you put ideas into her  
head about how great it is here and then steal her away! And now the Labyrinth's  
falling into ruins and the only person who can save it is refusing to live there."  
  
Sarah forgot her fear for a moment as anger took control "I did no such thing!" she  
shouted "She found me! And she had already made up her mind about staying and she  
did it on her own. But as from now I'll make it my personal duty to keep her away  
from the Labyrinth and away from YOU!"  
  
"She's my daughter! You have no right!"  
  
"Well, you had no right to take Toby!"  
  
"You asked me to take him so I did! And what's that got to do with anything?"  
  
"Because I had to do some serious personal growth to get my brother back and now  
you have to do the same." said Sarah as an idea hit her.  
  
Jareth looked completely baffled "What?"  
  
"She obviously thinks the world of you, Jareth. She just wants some love and  
attention. If you learn to be a better parent, you might be able to convince her to go  
back with you." Sarah suggested. She couldn't help feeling a little sorry for her old adversary. She had sences the hidden love he and his daughter held for each other and decided that they just needed a little push in the right direction.  
  
"How can I do that when she's barricaded herself in that room?" the Goblin King  
sneered.  
  
"Come back tomorrow and I'll explain things to her and then you two can patch things  
up." the girl said triumphantly.  
  
Jareth sighed. He hated having to admit defeat but there seemed to be no other way.  
"Very well! But this had better work, Sarah." he said as he faded away into thin air. 


	22. School days

Chapter Twenty Two - School days  
  
"Is he gone?" said a small voice from behind the door.  
  
"Yes. You can come out now." said Sarah and noticed the opposite wall lose its  
buzzing blue energy. Arian poke her head around the door, followed about half way  
down with Hoggle doing a similar action.  
  
"I'm sorry." said the girl and looked at the floor "That was so irresponsible of me."  
  
"You were scared and angry. It's understandable." Sarah assured.  
  
"I can't believe it." said Arian "You made him leave! You really must be the champion  
of the Labyrinth."  
  
"Hey! Don't forget about yourself and that whole force field thing. That was  
amazing!" cried Sarah and changed the subject. She thought it would be best not to  
tell the girl about the little deal she had made with the Goblin King. Not yet at any  
rate.  
  
"I wasn't sure it would work." Arian admitted. "I used to believe my father could do  
anything. That he was the best. Then Hogswald told me about you and everything  
changed."  
  
"It's Hoggle!" grunted the little dwarf angrily.  
  
"You still care though, don't you?" said Sarah, it wasn't really a question.  
  
"Of course I do! You can't live with someone for fourteen years and not care." said the  
girl.  
  
Sarah sighed and looked at the unhappy creature who sat opposite her. "You know.  
What you're going through is perfectly normal. When you reach a certain age you  
begin to realise your parents faults. We always judge them and sometimes we're able  
to forgive them."  
  
Arian nodded. "You're right. I need to get this mess sorted out."  
  
"Well that's good because he's coming back tomorrow..." said Sarah. Arian opened her  
mouth to protest but she cut her off. "You don't have to go back, I just figured you two  
needed a nice long talk." The young girl eventually consented to her friend's  
suggestion if not a little grudgingly.  
  
Looking up at the clock, Sarah noticed that it was already eight thirty and that she was  
late for work.  
  
"Christ! Arian. Look I've got to go now. Do you think you and Hoggle will be ok on  
your own." she said, rushing around searching for her files and notes.  
  
"Are you going to the school?" said Arian and her eyes lit up. "Can I come?"  
  
Sarah hesitated. She really didn't need the extra trouble but the girl seemed so eager to  
go. If only her other students were like that. Besides, she would go back to the  
Labyrinth eventually so she might as well make the most of her visit.   
  
"I guess there'd be no harm in you coming." she said after a while. "I could just say  
your an exchange student or something."  
  
"Fantastic. Do you want me to be French or Italian?" cried Arian happily.  
  
"Er... surprise me! Now let's go."  
  
They were about to go out the door when a gruff little voice piped up.  
  
"Hey! What about me?" said Hoggle.  
  
"Sorry Hoggle." said Sarah "But people here aren't used to seeing dwarves. It might be  
a bit risky."  
  
"Unless..." said Arian with a disturbingly familiar evil grin. She whipped out her  
notepad and scribbled down a few lines. Hoggle suddenly disappeared and was  
replaced by a short, stocky young boy of about fourteen years of age. He definitely  
looked human but there was still a certain Hogglishness about him.  
  
"Hoggle?" said Sarah with shock "How did you...? What was that!?"  
  
Arian smiled proudly and showed her the description she had written. "That...is what  
is going to save the Labyrinth." 


	23. Return of the King

Chapter Twenty Three - Return of the King  
  
()()()()()()()()()()  
  
A/N - Hiya. Sorry if that last chapter was a little short. I haven't had much time to  
write due to exams these past few weeks. It will get more regular after Wednesday.  
  
()()()()()()()()()()  
  
The day passed far too quickly in Arian's opinion. After a quick tour of St Catherines,  
she and Hoggle spent the morning in the schools old drama room helping the first  
years with their Shakespeare readings. Then, after lunch, they helped to paint the set  
for the end of term play. Ironically the play was entitled 'The Labyrinth' but actually  
turned out to be loosely based on Theseus and the Minotaur. Arian quickly made use  
of her photographic memory and managed to sketch the full panoramic she had from  
her rooftop. a twinge of homesickness bubble up inside her but was quickly gone by  
the time rehearsals started. The girl wished she could see the other classes but there  
was no time and Sarah flatly refused to let her out of her sight.   
  
Sarah then showed her the wonders of the supermarket. Arian was amazed how so  
much food could be bought under one roof. Not even the castle kitchens had that  
much stuff. They walked home along the river, crossed the bridge and stopped briefly  
for ice cream. The funny thing about Mr Whippys is that they look so nice but turn out  
to  
be a pile of lard and stale chocolate on a stick.   
  
Sarah could see that her new protege was becoming more nervous as the evening wore  
on so she tried to distract her with technology. By nine o'clock Arian had learned how  
to use the TV, the microwave, the CD player, the washing machine and Sarah's laptop.  
  
"So it's like a modern typewriter." said Arian gazing at the faintly glowing screen.  
  
"Whoa! Wait a minute. Do they have typewriters in the Labyrinth?" said Sarah.  
  
"You get a lot of Aboveground contraband there but anything past the seventeenth  
century is very rare." the girl explained "I found one on the black market. It cost me all  
my jewellery but it was worth it."  
  
"You are strange."  
  
"They were just useless gifts from visiting nobles. Just metal and stone, they held no  
importance. Knowledge and progress are far more precious."  
  
"'Ere! Can ya do that magic thingy with these here letters?" asked Hoggle, now back  
in his true form pointing at the keyboard. Arian carefully typed a short sentence and  
the words A red apple appeared on the desk shadowed the overall whiteness of the  
screen. Immediately a red apple shimmered into view by Hoggle's elbow and he ate it  
gratefully.  
  
"I'm getting much quicker at it now." said Arian happily.  
  
()()()()()()()()()()  
  
The night past without sleep. Arian was still dreading the morning. Nomatter how  
important it was, she still did not feel ready to face her father again. And that bloody  
dwarf was snoring again! She was tempted to shove a sock in his mouth but didn't  
have the energy.  
  
()()()()()()()()()()  
  
The next morning was beautifully clear compared to the spontaneous storm the day  
before. The Goblin King was already downstairs waiting patiently for the house's  
inhabitants to rise. It was Arian who first immerged blearily from the living room. It  
took her a full second to realise she was not alone and she jumped with surprise.  
  
"Good Morning, Arian." said Jareth, devoid of emotion as usual.  
  
"Hello father." the girl replied uneasily.  
  
"You look well."  
  
"You don't."  
  
"I'm still a bit drained from our last encounter." the Goblin King explained. "That was  
some powerful magic you were making."  
  
"I'm sorry."  
  
"Don't be. I always knew you could beat me if you wished to."  
  
Arian hesitated. Was that a genuine compliment? Perhaps even an admission of  
respect? The rant she had planned the night before completely vanished from her  
memory and the walls suddenly seemed stuffy and oppressive.  
  
"Er... would you like to go four a walk?" she suggested "I think better when I'm  
walking."  
  
"So do I." said Jareth and smiled fleetingly. This was beginning to feel like the old  
times again. So with the common ground in place the two wielders of magic silently  
stepped through the front door and into the dull surroundings of the city... 


	24. Shocking Secrets

Chapter Twenty Four - Shocking Secrets  
  
()()()()()()()()()()  
  
A/N - Damn it I've gone all sci-fi again. Bugger! Don't worry it is very relevant and  
all will be revealed soon. Thanks you for reading and please tell me what you think.  
  
()()()()()()()()()()  
  
It was six in the morning and London was only just waking up. The low growl of  
traffic could still be heard in the distance but by the river there was nothing but the  
birds and the calm lapping of the polluted waters. Two figures appeared under the  
shady walkway, still fresh with the heavy dew from the night before. One was tall and  
outlandish and mostly hidden by his long flowing cloak. The other was a thin and pale  
child who compared with her companion looked awkward and out of place in her light  
blue jeans and black shirt. Arian was always amazed at how her father could just look  
completely at home in such a contrasting world. He could probably even pull it off on  
Mars.  
  
"Have you enjoyed your stay here?" said Jareth suddenly.  
  
"Yes. It's been great. It really feels like home." said Arian.  
  
"I don't like it. There's too much iron in the air."  
  
"I noticed that but for some reason it's quite fitting." the girl replied and sat down on  
the nearest bench, staring at a plane landing over the horizon of buildings where  
Heathrow undoubtedly lay. There was a long silence.  
  
"I found your other pendant by the way." Jareth said finally. "It was in your room. I  
think it had been blocking your magic all this time."  
  
"Great. Now I can write stories without all hell breaking loose. I've only gone a few  
days without it but I've really missed my writing."  
  
"Could you show me how you do it?" asked Jareth, intrigued by this confession.  
  
"I just write things and they happen." Arian explained "So if I want it to snow I can  
just write a description and it'll snow." she demonstrated this by creating a thirty  
second long snow storm directly above them.  
  
"That's it?" exclaimed Jareth watching the icy flakes melt on his gloves.  
  
"It works better the more detail you put in. And if you cross something out it breaks  
the spell."  
  
"Fascinating. And to think I had the audacity to try and teach something that's the  
most natural thing in the world to you." There was another long silence before he  
spoke again. "You could have told me where you were going."  
  
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to worry you."  
  
"Well how was I supposed to feel. You just disappeared. You could have been  
kidnapped or assassinated or something." snapped Jareth.  
  
"It was an accident. I wasn't used to doing magic yet."  
  
"And why did you feel the need to tell your grandmother about it instead of me? I  
could have helped, Arian. I'm on your side!"  
  
"How can you be on my side when you've hardly spoken to me since I was twelve?"  
cried Arian angrily. "There's no excuse for it now! I've checked and there's no  
obligation you have at the moment that's could possibly take priority. Your foreign  
policies are stable, your subjects are well cared for and no children have been wished  
away since I was!"  
  
"Oh! You found out about that." said Jareth, suddenly looking quite uneasy.  
  
"Yes I did and I want answers, father! Who am I? Who are my real parents?" shouted  
Arian, tears beginning to form in her large black eyes.  
  
"You are the future, Arian." said Jareth slowly trying to find the right words to say.  
"When I found you there were no clues about your history. Only your name, your  
pendant and your power. They mean different things in this world and ours and you  
belong to both of them in equal measure."  
  
"I don't understand."  
  
"In the Underground the Black Star carries great importance as it is associated with  
freedom and your name is associated with destiny. No doubt your grandmother told  
you of this?"  
  
"Yes she did."  
  
"But here it means something far more sinister. The Black Star is the emblem of a  
Serbian terrorist organization called the Natmuren Glumica Iksan who strived to  
create a new and more powerful race of people. They were wiped out by the army at  
exactly the same time you were sent to me."  
  
"How do you know this?"  
  
"I had to find out. You were too special, you sparked my interest. I had to figure out  
why someone would wish away such a talented child. You're the first person I've told  
about this, it is your right."  
  
"So you're saying I'm some kind of Fascist experiment!!"  
  
"It was your name that gave it away." Jareth confessed. "All this time I thought your  
name was Arianhad when it was actually Aryan H.A.D."  
  
"What does that mean?"  
  
"Aryan is what they called this race and H.A.D stands for the Latin name they gave  
you. Homo-alpha-dominari."  
  
"The alpha dominant man." whispered Arian through her overflowing tears before she  
curled up into a fragile ball with her head in her hands and her knees tucked under her  
chin. A couple of cyclists whizzed past and paid no attention to the strange people  
sitting on the bench. Arian cried until her eyes stung. Suddenly she noticed a warm  
arm around her shoulders. It was the first time her father had touched her in two years.  
She felt like a small child again as she lost herself in Jareth's familiar, comforting hug  
and she momentarily disappeared in the fold of his cloak... 


	25. Reconciliation

Chapter Twenty Five - Reconciliation  
  
()()()()()()()()()()  
  
A/N - Thank you for the reviews guys they were very nice and constructive. I honestly  
didn't think anyone would like this idea. Special thanks to Mab, Queen of Faerie and  
Daemon Faerie Queen (gosh your names are so similar). I will try to improve the last  
chapter but I also wanted there to be an element of withdrawal between the characters  
by keeping the conversation blunt.  
This is the second to last chapter, people! But I do have some ideas for a sequel if you're  
interested.  
  
()()()()()()()()()()  
  
Jareth looked down at the sobbing girl in his arms. He hadn't seen her cry for almost  
ten years now and the shock of her outburst had caught him off guard. Then he  
noticed that she was taking comfort from him. That hadn't happened in a long time  
either. In fact it hadn't happened at all since he had found out the truth... But now  
everything was out in the open, it was like they had regressed back to where they  
started. Arian was the crying infant and he the loving parent removing the fear of a  
bad dream or the pain of a cut or a fall. But now the feeling was so much stronger in  
its absence and the anger at those past deeds was so real. He finally had someone to  
share it with.  
  
Arian slowly came back to earth after fit of crying. Her head felt like it would explode  
from the pressure of her thoughts. She was an experiment! Someone's sick creation!  
Technically, she probably wasn't even human! That was the most crushing thought of  
all. Secretly, Arian had always felt out of place when she was growing up and those  
rare occasions when she met fae children her own age were always painful reminders  
that she was different. Then for a few glorious days she had explored all the wonders  
of the human world and for the first time in her life had felt truly at home, only to  
have it snatched away again. This modern metropolis wasn't where she belonged  
either. Again her vision was fogged over by another onslaught of tears and she buried  
her face deeper into the shoulder she'd been crying on. She was surprised at how much  
she had missed these moments of comfort and wondered how on earth she had  
survived for so long without them.  
  
"Please say you're lying!" she pleaded through muffled sobs "Say its just a trick to get  
me to go back with you."  
  
Jareth sighed "I can't, Arian. I wish I could, but it's the truth."  
  
"How long have you known?" Arian whispered, trying to calm herself.  
  
"Far too long. I found out two years ago when the peace treaty was signed. It was  
prophesised that a child born of science and raised in magic would unite or destroy  
our world as she saw fit. She alone would bring our destiny through her God-like  
power and either create a golden age or total destruction. I learned with the help of my  
mother and the other Seers that it was you." He looked across at his daughter. He had  
tried to think of a way of telling her for so long and she had found out in the worst  
possible way. He had never felt so guilty before. "I wanted to tell you, Arian, but I just  
couldn't bring myself to do it. And the longer I left it the harder it became. Eventually  
I couldn't face you anymore."  
  
Arian's eyes widened "Is that why you stayed away?"  
  
"I'm so sorry." The apology sounded pathetic but he was seriously out of practise in  
that area. Arian looked up at him searchingly with her large black eyes now red  
rimmed from crying. She had never heard him say that before and she felt quite  
pleasantly shocked by it. Finally she forced a small smile and looked away to focus on  
the ducks on the river. She immediately felt a lot better.  
  
Jareth carried on, still thinking that she wasn't convinced. "I swear I'll make it up to  
you. You're my daughter and I love you even if I don't say it enough. Always  
remember that. And don't think for one second that you're alone when you take over  
the kingdom because I'll help you every step of the way. Just you and me against the  
world."  
  
Arian smiled "I've missed you." she whispered "I miss the way we used to be." she  
paused for a moment, thinking to herself "It looks like I have a decision to make." she  
said finally. "To save the Underground or stay here and let it die. Not much of a  
choice really, is it? I love this place but not seeing it again is a small sacrifice for  
saving a world."  
  
"I never said you couldn't see the Aboveworld again." said Jareth, realising that she  
had misunderstood.  
  
"But I thought that was the way it was done." said Arian uncertainly. "So I can come  
back then?"  
  
"To visit, yes." said her father. "You have the unique ability to jump between worlds  
without being called upon. The rules obviously don't apply to you."  
  
"But you came yesterday and no one called you." Arian was getting confused now.  
  
"I'm allowed to follow people who were wished to me if they escape."  
  
"You're making me sound like your prisoner, father." Arian laughed and stood up  
from the bench. Suddenly it felt like a huge weight had been lifted from her shoulders.  
She could do what was right and still live her own life. It was such a sweet deal. "So  
it's settled then. I'll come home with you if I'm allowed to visit Sarah."  
  
Jareth scowled. "What do you want to see her for?"  
  
"She's my friend." Arian protested.   
  
"She defeated me and she nearly destroyed the Labyrinth!"  
  
"It was only a game, father, get over it! I'm not coming home if you won't let me see  
her." said Arian trying not to let it escalate any further by resorting to good old  
blackmail.  
  
"Well I hope you'll be able to live with yourself after you condemn us all to death!"  
said Jareth trying his best to win by resorting to the good old 'dad guilt' tactic.  
  
Arian hesitated a little but realised it was a trick. "Sure I'll fell a little guilty. But this  
world has so many great things to do that I'll hardly have the time to think about it."  
she said triumphantly.  
  
"Fine! You can see Sarah." Jareth caved in. "As long as it doesn't interfere with your  
duties. And as long as you tell me beforehand." They were quickly falling back into  
the old routine.  
  
"Done." said Arian happily and leaned over to hug him again. And they both left the  
riverside to carry on their walk, oblivious to the strange looks they were getting from  
passing joggers. Soon they came to Richmond's main highstreet and Arian took great  
pleasure in pointing out and explaining what all the different shops were for and how  
the bus timetable worked. Jareth pretended to understand but really didn't have the  
foggiest idea what she was on about. But from the disaster of the previous morning  
and their talk the next day they were both able to relax and enjoy the day.  
  
The afternoon drew in as the unusual pair wandered aimlessly around Kew Gardens,  
reliving old memories and chatting about nothing in particular.  
  
"So what do you think the Goblin City needs to ensure its progress?" asked Jareth  
following a short argument about what a dump it was turning into.  
  
"Well it needs public health, that's a must." said Arian "And it needs houses that don't  
burn down as soon as you look at them and schools and a better form of law  
enforcement. I don't like those guards, their a bunch of thugs."  
  
"You can't civilise Goblins, Arian. It's impossible."  
  
"That's just because no one's tried." said Arian "And they need proper dentists, that  
goes for you too."  
  
"What's wrong with my teeth?" Jareth protested.  
  
"They're freaky looking."  
  
"Good Lord! What am I getting myself into?" the Goblin King sighed.  
  
"Well if I'm going to create a golden age, shouldn't everyone have the same rights to  
education and health?" said Arian.  
  
"Yes, your majesty!" her father said sarcastically. Damn it! She was already turning  
into a better ruler than he was. Arian laughed at him and he smiled back. "Shall we go  
then?"  
  
"Can I say goodbye to Sarah first?" said Arian hopefully.   
  
"Don't see why not." said Jareth and held out his hand which Arian gladly accepted  
and they both faded away in a shower of glitter causing a small poodle to have a heart  
attack. 


	26. Epilogue Farewells

Epilogue - Farewells  
  
()()()()()()()()()()  
  
A/N - Here it is. The last chapter. Big thank yous to everyone who reviewed. You  
guys are great. Please tell me if you think I should carry on with a sequel and feel free  
to suggest your ideas. I was considering doing a Toby/Arian romance.... might work!  
See ya soon.  
  
A/N2 - Yes I have changed my pen name. Don't get confused.  
  
()()()()()()()()()()  
  
Sarah overslept that morning and awoke with less than half an hour to get ready for  
work. She slipped downstairs to check on her guests only to find that Arian's bed was  
empty and she was nowhere to be found in the house. Immediately her mind shattered  
with panic and a thousand thoughts exploded around her, most of them concerning the  
terrible things the Goblin King could have done. He had cheated! He'd just swooped  
in and taken Arian back against her will. She should have known! She should have  
prepared for this!  
  
She raced into the living room to wake up the sleeping dwarf on her couch.  
  
"Arian's gone!" she cried as Hoggle sat up groggily. He was not a morning dwarf.  
  
"Eh?..What?"  
  
"She's gone! HE must've taken her!" Sarah repeated.  
  
"Oh NO!" shouted Hoggle angrily. "The rat! The bloody little rat!"  
  
"What do we do, Hoggle?" cried Sarah, tears of worry starting to emerge.  
  
"WE can't do nothin', Sarah. She ain't our child to save!" the dwarf replied, trying to  
hide how upset he was.   
  
"You mean there's no hope at all?"  
  
"I'm sorry, Sarah. There's nothing we can do." said Hoggle and tried to comfort his  
friend "Try not to worry. She's a clever girl and she can look after herself"  
  
()()()()()()()()()()  
  
Sarah tried to get through the day as normal but kept finding her mind being drawn  
back to Arian. Her notebook was missing as well so there was a chance that she could  
still use her magic. There was no sign of a struggle but Jareth could have easily  
covered that up and Arian had left no clue as to where she had gone. The only logical  
option was that Arian had left willingly but after her display the day before this just  
seemed highly unlikely. Either that or she had run away in a ditch attempt to stay  
Aboveground.  
  
She returned home in low spirits, full of regret for losing a friend and guilty because it  
was mostly her own fault. She nearly screamed with surprise when she found the very  
person she had thought lost sitting at her kitchen table with Hoggle and the Goblin  
King.  
  
"Arian? What's going on?" she said quietly.  
  
The girl stepped forward and smiled happily. "Well we've talked things over and I've  
decided to go home."  
  
"Are you all right?" Sarah asked, astonished by this new turn of events.  
  
"Of course I'm all right. I'm sorry if I worried you. We should have left a note or  
something." said Arian "Anyway, father and I are going to try a joint rulership of the  
Labyrinth for now and see where it goes from there. I just wanted to come and say  
thank you for letting me stay and I hope we can meet again soon."  
  
"You mean you can come back if you want?"  
  
"Yes. Do you mind if I come and visit? I've had so much fun here these past few  
days." said Arian hopefully.  
  
"Of course you can!" said Sarah happily "You're always welcome here." The two  
women hugged each other and said a few short goodbyes. Then it was Hoggle's turn.  
  
"Goodbye, Sarah. And remember...should you need us..." the dwarf said hopefully.  
  
"I'll call." Sarah replied in their familiar farewell.  
  
Hoggle patted her hand affectionately. It was a beautiful moment.  
  
Arian smiled down at the dwarf. "Come on, Hoggle. Let's go home." and turned to  
join her father at the other end of the room.  
  
"What did you call me?" said Hoggle amazed that she had finally remembered his  
name. However Arian took it the wrong way and thought she had got it wrong.  
  
"Sorry....Hogshead." she said quickly, looking slightly sheepish.  
  
Hoggle rolled his eyes and rushed to join the others for the journey home. The room  
began to fill with glitter and the three of them began to fade. To Sarah's astonishment,  
Jareth put his arm around his daughters shoulders, the tenderness of the gesture was  
almost shocking in its context. He then looked at her and genuinely smiled and  
mouthed a thank you as the three visitors faded into thin air to return to the tangled  
structure of the Labyrinth.  
  
()()()()()()()()()()  
  
The End 


End file.
